She's Cast a Spell on You
by David Falkayn
Summary: Team Bartkowski meets Team Hocus Pocus and a little magic in the form of a grown up Tabitha Stephens and her cousin and roommate, Serena, join the party. Pairings: Chuck/Sarah; Casey/Serena; Casey/Tabitha; Devon/Ellie; Darrin/Samantha; mystery pairing
1. Chapter 1

She's Cast a Spell on You

 _ **Malibu Beach: The Present**_

"I love you Chuck Bartkowski." Sarah Walker-Bartkowski said as she hugged and kissed the man sitting on the beach next to her; her memories so cruelly snatched away from her not so long ago now restored—seemingly by a kiss.

"I love you too, Sarah." Chuck responded, his eyes moistening with tears of joy. "I guess Morgan was right about that kiss."

Looking down at the happy scene on the beach, Chuck's best friend, Morgan Grimes, standing between a lovely blonde woman and an equally gorgeous raven-haired beauty smiled happily. "It worked." He exclaimed, his heart filled with joy.

"Of course it did." Serena, the dark-haired woman, replied with a warm grin.

"A last gift from my Mom." Tabitha Stephens said with a smile on her face as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"And your father." Serena said in a soft voice. "Darrin's love for Samantha helped to make all this possible. It was his love for her and her for him that powered Sammie's final spell." Daubing the tears from her eyes, she suggested. "Let's leave the lovebirds alone for a while. They've earned their privacy." Turning to Morgan, she smirked, "You…go get your girl. And Tabby…"

"Party time." The blonde chuckled.

"Party time." Serena giggled as both witches snapped their fingers and disappeared leaving a beaming Morgan alone after giving him kisses on the cheek and a final—for now at least— "Ta Ta!"

"Chuck…" Sarah inquired as the pair sat together on the beach quietly enjoying each other's company. "There's still a couple of gaps in my memory I was hoping you could fill for me."

"Sure, Honey. Anything." Chuck replied with a grin.

"Okay." Sarah inquired, "How did Morgan know that a kiss would restore my memories?"

"Well…" Chuck smiled, "For you to understand why, you're going to have to believe in magic. Can you do that for me?"

"I can do that." Sarah smiled back. "Soooo…"

"Okay." Chuck began his story, "It started years ago at a suburban home near New York City and on a doomed Trans-World Airlines flight from London to New York City just about to make its final approach. The man on that plane was on his way home from a business trip and his wife was getting ready to go pick him up at the airport with their two children. Sadly, his plane never arrived…"

 _ **The New York Suburbs: 1164 Morning Glory Circle 1972**_

"That's my little man." Samantha Stephens grinned as she adjusted her three-year old son's shirt. "You ready to go get your daddy?"

Her smile broadening as her little boy nodded his head enthusiastically, Samantha called out to her housekeeper and babysitter, "Esmerelda! Is Tabitha ready?"

"Ready, Momma!" Tabitha answered as she skipped into the room with Esmerelda following close behind."

Giving Tabitha a quick once-over, Samantha, her expression now one of maternal authority as she lowered her voice, reminded her witchly daughter, "Now Tabitha, what's our number one rule?"

"Mustn't twitch." The young eight-year old responded as her mother nodded her head in approval.

"Very good, sweetheart." Samantha said as she rose to her feet. Taking both their children's hands in hers, the lovely blonde witch addressed her housekeeper, "Thanks, Esmerelda. I don't think we're going to need you for the rest of the night."

"You're welcome." The nervous housekeeper/witch stammered as she faded away.

Smiling as Esmerelda made her departure, Samantha remarked to her children, "Come on…let's get daddy."

 _ **Trans-World Airlines Flight 83 from London to New York City: 1972**_

"Can I get you another drink, Sir?" The blonde stewardess asked as she picked up the empty glass sitting on the tray.

"No, thank you, Miss." Darrin Stephens replied with a smile as he looked up at the young woman. A puzzled expression on his face as he regarded the lovely blonde, he inquired, "Pardon me…and please…don't think I'm coming on to you…but…do I know you from somewhere?"

"No, Sir." The woman answered back, "I don't think so…although if you fly a lot, we might have been on the same flight…"

"Maybe that's it." The dark-haired man affirmed.

"Are you visiting the city, Mr…"

"Stephens." The man responded with a polite smile, "Darrin Stephens. No…I live in the suburbs. Have a wife and two children." He proudly declared, hoping to further reinforce to the young woman that he had no intentions towards her. "I can't wait to get back home to them."

"I'm sure they're looking forward to having you back home." The stewardess said as her grin now became more of a sad smile. "Well…I'll leave you to your work, Mr. Stephens. If you need anything…just holler."

"Thanks." Darrin smiled back, then, feeling for some strange reason that he could talk to this stranger, called out to her just as she was about to leave. "Ummm…Miss?" He stammered as he pulled out his billfold, "Would you like to see their pictures?"

"I'd love to Mr. Stephens." The blonde stewardess answered back with a note of wistfulness in her voice as she knelt down next to the man.

"That's Sam. Samantha." He said proudly, pointing to a lovely blonde woman.

"She's very beautiful." The stewardess said with a smile.

"That she is." Darrin smiled back. "The little boy is Adam. He's three. And the little girl is our daughter, Tabitha. She just turned eight. I had to miss her birthday because of this stupid business trip my boss sent me on, but I'm hoping to make it up to her this weekend. I got tickets to the circus…she just loves clowns."

"I'm sure she'll be pleased, Sir." The stewardess responded as she brushed back a tear.

"Are you all right, Miss?" Darrin, seeing the moistness on the young woman's face, asked in a concerned voice.

"I'm fine, Sir." The woman responded, "It's just…" She shook her head, "I'm sure you don't want to hear my story."

"Please…" Darrin replied, "Go ahead…I'd like to hear."

The blonde took a deep breath and exhaled, "I…uhhh…I lost my father when I was young. He was out of town and…was…" She brushed back her tears, "He never came home."

"I'm so sorry." Darrin commiserated as he offered the stewardess his handkerchief. "I don't know what to say."

"It's all right." The woman said as she dried her eyes. "I still have my memories of him." A sad smile then returned to her face, "He was a lot like you. He loved my Mom and me."

"Did you ever find out what happened to him?" Darrin asked, feeling, for some reason, a strong connection to this young woman.

"No." The woman shook her head, "I never did. I just know that I loved him and…I still miss him." After giving the ad man a kiss on the cheek, the stewardess stood back up. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stephens. I have to go now but thank you for the chat."

"Take care, Miss." Darrin responded in a soft voice, "And…I know it's not much…but…I'm sure that wherever he is, your father still loves you."

"Thank you, Mr. Stephens." The woman smiled back, "I know he does. Enjoy the rest of the flight."

After disappearing behind the curtain with her cart, the stewardess jerked her head up as she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her.

"What are you doing here, Tabitha. You know the rules. You're not supposed to be here. By the way…when are you from?"

"Twenty-first century." Tabitha Stephens responded with a sigh, "And I know what the goddamn rules are, Serena. You taught them to me. But I had to see him before…"

"Ssshhh!" The dark-haired witch cautioned, placing her finger on her niece's lips. "You know I'm from this time."

"Yeah…" Tabitha sighed as she twitched her nose along with her aunt, the pair disappearing from the kitchen and then reappearing instantaneously in the baggage compartment. Opening up a suitcase, she revealed its contents: a bomb with an old fashioned analog clock timer, its minute and hour hands both at twelve o'clock and the second hand slowly clicking up to the twelve spot. "I hated lying to him, but I couldn't tell him the truth."

"Honey…" Serena choked back a sob, "I wish I knew what to say."

"Not much you can say." The blonde witch responded with a shake of her head. Her lips curling up in a sneer, she spat out, "Endora and all the rest could have saved themselves a lot of trouble and my Dad a lot of pain had they known that a terrorist bomb would have done their work for them."

"Not all of us wanted to see your parents' marriage end, Tabitha." Serena pointed out in a forlorn voice.

"I know." Tabitha sobbed. "You, Uncle Arthur, and Aunt Clara were the only ones who supported their marriage when it counted and it means a lot to me that you three were ready to risk losing your powers and everything when you stood up for them. I've never forgotten that and I love all three of you for it. But…you and Uncle Arthur did do some mean things to him on occasion."

Tears came to Serena's eyes as she cast a quick incantation. "I can't stop the bomb from going off, but I can slow down time enough for us to talk, darling. And…give him a few more minutes." Sighing, she explained as the second hand stopped its progress. "I just cast a spell that will make him remember and live over all the good things that's happened to him since he met Sammie. I know it's not much, but it'll give him a little happiness before…what has to happen happens."

"Thank you, Serena." Tabitha smiled in gratitude at her cousin, "I wanted to do it but…"

"The rules. Because you're not part of this time, you can't perform any magic that might affect the timeline." Serena nodded her head. "If you ask me, that rule sucks rocks. But…" She reluctantly admitted, "I can see why they put it in." Taking a deep breath, the raven-haired beauty said apologetically, "You know…mostly, what me and Arthur do are harmless pranks, darling…" Seeing the cross look on her niece's face, Serena quickly amended, "Okay…you're right." She sighed, "On a couple of occasions, we…I…do sometimes go a little overboard and cross the line a bit. But…I don't hate Darrin. Honest! And neither does Arthur. We never have." She declared, deliberately calling her cousin's husband by his real name. "He's been…good…to Samantha." She admitted. "And I know he loves her very much…and you and Adam too, sweetie. He has to…to put up with everything we've done to him. If he didn't love you all…he'd have left long ago. And... I'm sorry if I went too far with some of the things I did to him."

"I know, and I still love you and Uncle Arthur. I'm probably not supposed to tell you this, but I don't give a shit about what the Witch's Council says. They can all go take a flying fu…"

Her cousin's words drowned out by engine noise, Serena barely repressed a mischievous grin as she remarked in a teasing voice. "Nice vocabulary. I'm glad to know you take a little after me."

"Yeah." Tabitha replied with a sad smile on her face. "You taught me a few things over the years—most of it stuff that would have totally freaked Mom and Dad out. Don't worry. The three of us…you…me…Uncle Arthur…we're still good. Aunt Clara…well…you know she's already well along in years."

Serena nodded her head in understanding. "Yeah…I know. No matter what Endora and some of the others say, we're not really immortal. We just live a very long time—maybe too long. We live so long that we forget what it means to feel. We become detached…removed. I guess that's one of the reasons I am the way I am. I don't ever want to feel that way. But…eventually…we die like everything else."

"Yeah." Tabitha affirmed in a soft, sad voice as she continued her narrative, "She went peacefully and with a smile on her face and with you, me, and Arthur at her side. Things between me and Adam are more than a little strained. But at least…" She sighed, "We're still talking to each other. That's something I guess." Her expression now took on a hard look as she concluded, "It's Endora, Maurice, and the others that I don't have anything to do with. They hated my dad and I despise them."

"They don't hate him, dearie." Serena responded as she hugged her cousin. Then, seeing the cynical look on her cousin's face, the dark-haired witch nodded her head in reluctant agreement. "Yeah…you're right. They hate him."

Tabitha grimaced, "I know they're not responsible for this. But…" She declared through gritted teeth. "They are responsible for everything that happens after." Then, as Serena's spell began to fade, the young blonde gave the raven-haired woman next to her a hug and kissed her on the cheeks, "I have to go now, Cuz and so do you…" Seeing the smirk on her cousin's face, Tabitha snorted, "I haven't called you aunt in a long time, Serena. My younger self is gonna need you soon."

"Is there anything else you need, Sweetie?" Serena asked as the second hand slowly began its motion.

"Yeah." Tabitha nodded her head, "One more thing: I don't blame you, Arthur, or Clara for what happens to Mom. You did everything you could. It's all on Endora and Maurice. Oh…" She added as a final afterthought, "Whatever you do…make sure I go with you when it's time. Don't let Endora take me away from you. Adam's a lost cause, I'm afraid." Seeing the look of confusion on her cousin's face, Tabitha's lips turned up in a sad smile, "You'll know what I'm talking about when the time comes. You can't beat Maurice—he's just too powerful and too well connected and, now that Adam's powers have emerged, he wants him." She then closed her eyes tight and opened them, "And as you know, what Maurice wants…Maurice gets. Endora will fight you over me, but in the end, you'll beat her. You're as stubborn and determined as I remember Mom being when you want to be."

"I will, Sweetie." Serena swore, "I promise."

"Thanks." Tabitha's lips turned up in a smile, "And do me another favor? When I get back to my time, take me out to the wildest joint you know and make sure we don't leave until I get drunk and laid."

Her laughter almost hysterical, Serena vowed, "Don't worry, Sweetie. I'll make sure we go to the swingingest joint I know and get plastered on the most expensive booze they've got, and then we're gonna find ourselves a pair of gorgeous stallions and ride 'em till they drop."

"I'm gonna hold you to that promise." Tabitha responded with an anxious laugh, "I'll see future you in a bit. Take care and remember…whatever you do…don't let Endora take me."

As Tabitha disappeared, Serena swore in a soft voice, "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm not about to let the wicked witch get her hands on you."

" _Ladies and gentlemen. This is your pilot speaking. We will soon be on our final approach to La Guardia Airport. Please fasten your seatbelts, extinguish all smoking materials, and place your trays in the upright position. Have a pleasant stay in New York City and thank you once again for flying Trans World Airlines."_

As soon as Serena popped out, the second hand on the ticking clock struck twelve and for a few moments, a flash appeared in the sky near New York City. But as quickly as it appeared, it was gone and so was Darrin Stephens…devoted husband and father.

 _ **Los Angeles: 21**_ _ **st**_ _ **Century**_

Popping back to her own time, Tabitha heard a familiar voice call out to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." The blonde responded with a sad smile as she regarded her cousin who was also her roommate, "Thanks, Serena. I did what I needed to do. I told you what I needed to tell you and got to see him one last time."

"I know it hurts, Tabby." Serena, still as youthful as she was back in the sixties, said consolingly. "Are you sure you're all right."

"I will be." The blonde witch sighed, "It was good to see him again." Her lips once again turning up in a sad grin, she remarked, "He really did love me, Mom, and Adam."

"He did." Serena replied in a soft voice as she nodded her head in affirmation. Then, she smirked as she snapped her fingers, her outfit instantly changing from a blouse and jeans to a slinky short red dress that showed plenty of leg and cleavage, "Okay, you made me promise to get you drunk and laid and you know I keep my promises. So…get changed into your party clothes 'cause I'm taking you to a little nightclub in Paris and we're gonna have some fun."

Twitching her nose, Tabitha switched from the 1960s TWA stewardess outfit she was wearing to a short black dress that showed off her lovely curves as well as tantalizing glimpses of flesh. "All right. I'm changed." The lovely blonde exclaimed, "Let's party!"

 _ **Paris**_

Reappearing in an alley near the Parisian nightclub, the two witches took out their compacts and quickly touched up their makeup. "Ready, Tabby?"

"Yeah." The blonde grinned as she heard the music coming from the club, "Time for fun."

Leaning up against the bar, Special Agent John Casey of the NSA smiled in satisfaction as he took a sip of the Johnny Walker Black scotch, served neat, from his glass as he drew the Montecristo Cuban cigar under his nose, savoring the aroma as he did so. He had taken out his mark—a notorious international arms dealer—quickly and quietly and had acquired the plans for the multi-targeting scope he was carrying and the plans were now safely on their way to General Beckmann. All in all, it had been a good week for the hardened killer and now it was time to relax—well…relax as much as possible while still being ready at a moment's notice to plant a bullet between some assassin's eyes. His ever-alert gaze turning to the door, Casey raised an eyebrow as he saw the two women, one a leggy blonde and the other a statuesque brunette, enter the club.

"Well…well…well." Tabitha exclaimed in a sultry voice as she spotted the man wearing a well-tailored Gucci suit leaning against the bar nursing a glass of scotch, "Look at what I just found."

"Mmmm…" Serena purred as her gaze drank in the athletic form of the man at the bar, "Now that's what I call prime beef cake."

"Just remember I saw him first. But…I don't mind sharing if you don't." Tabitha said with a smirk. "Looks like there's enough of him for both of us."

"Think he can handle the two of us, Tabby? I wouldn't want to give the guy a heart attack." Serena licked her lips in anticipation as she regarded the well-built man at the bar.

"Let's find out." Tabitha replied in a sultry voice as the two women sauntered across the dance floor to the bar, drawing plenty of eyetracks as the did so. Reaching their target for the evening, the two women took positions on either side of him. Feeling his momentary tension as she brushed up against him, the leggy blonde looked up at him and leered, "Buy a couple of girls a drink?"

"Yeah…could be your lucky night Big Guy." Serena growled in her sexiest voice.

Nodding his head slightly at the bartender, Casey, still on his guard, responded with a smile, "What are you two girls having?"

"Other than maybe you?" Tabitha smirked while Serena gave him a suggestive wink, "Canadian on the rocks and my cousin will take a martini—extra dry." Taking a sip of her drink, the blonde witch smiled as she brushed up against the muscular man standing next to her as Serena grabbed the spy's buttocks and squeezed, "Let's get this party started."

The next day, Casey, stirring from his slumber after one of the most memorable nights of his life, glanced to either side of him on the bed. Finding that he was now alone, the spy shrugged his shoulders as he got out of bed just as his phone chimed. "Damn. I didn't just dream that—did I?" Then, seeing a card leaning up against a vase containing one red and one white rose, his lips turned up in a grin. Opening the card, he read the short message.

 _Thanks for a swinging time, stud muffin. Let's do it again sometime._

 _Smooches,_

 _Tabby and Serena_

 _XXXXOOOO_

Answering his phone, Casey's senses immediately came to full alert as he heard his superior's voice. "Agent Casey?"

"Yes, General."

"Get back to Washington ASAP. You have a new assignment. A CIA agent has gone rogue and I need you to deal with him."

"The target have a name?"

"Larkin." General Beckmann responded, "Bryce Larkin."

 _ **Budapest**_

Sarah Walker, maintaining a stoic expression on her face listened to the voice coming from the phone.

"Hey honey…I haven't heard from you for a while…I want you to know that if you ever need a place to come home to…"

"Who was that?" Sarah's handler, Kieran Ryker inquired through his phone.

"Nobody." Sarah responded flatly, "Are we a go?"

"Affirmative."

"Ryker I'm in."

"How many?"

"I count eleven."

"Take them out…all of them."

Her bloody work done, Sarah proceeded to the package. Then, her eyes falling on the tiny infant, her heart skipped a beat as Ryker ordered her to retrieve the baby for handover. Deciding that there was no way that she would hand that baby in her arms to either Ryker or Graham, Sarah decided on her course of action. There was only place where that infant could be safe and only one person who she could trust to take care of her. It was time for Sarah to come home.

Some time later, after successfully ensuring that the baby was safe in the arms of her mother where Graham and Ryker couldn't touch her and that her tracks were covered, Sarah reported to her superior.

Agent Walker…you have a new mission." Graham declared as he handed the mission brief to his best agent. "You're going to Burbank."

 _ **Los Angeles**_

"Happy birthday, Chuck!" Ellen Bartkowski said in a cheery voice to her younger brother.

"Thanks, Ellie." The lanky young man answered back as he slipped his pocket protector in his pocket and grabbed his car keys.

"Don't forget!" Ellie reminded as she gave her brother a peck on the cheek, "Your party's tonight."

"Ellie!" Charles whined, "No…I don't think I'm…"

"Chuck!" Ellie sighed in exasperation, "It's been five years since Stanford and Jill. Don't you think it's time for you to get on with your life."

Shaking his head, Chuck responded in a forlorn voice, "Ellie…I just don't think I'm ready."

"Chuck." Ellie grinned as she tried to will confidence into her younger brother, "You're never going to know if you don't try. Please?"

Sighing, the computer nerd conceded, "All right, Ellie." He grumbled as he exited the apartment, "I'll be here."

"Great!" Ellie smiled as she watched her brother walk off with Morgan Grimes, his best friend. Feeling her live-in boyfriend's arms wrapped around her waist, the dark-haired doctor leaned back into his embrace, "Hey, honey."

"Hey." Devon Woodcomb, also a doctor, answered back, giving his girlfriend a kiss on her neck. "I got some of the girls from my old fraternity's sister sorority to come to the party."

"That's great." Ellie grinned. Then her smile disappearing to be replaced by a worried expression, she remarked, "I want Chuck to have a good time. I'm worried about him, Devon. It's like he's just spinning his wheels. He needs something…someone…to push him out of his comfort zone."

"Don't worry about it, Ellie." Devon responded with a cheery voice. "He's going to meet someone and have an awesome time."

"I hope so." Ellie replied as she and her boyfriend left the apartment. "Come on, honey. We better get to work."

"Ready for another day at the office?" Morgan, wearing the green polo shirt marking him as a Buy More sales assistant, snorted as he and his friend exited the Buy More Nerd Herd company car that Chuck Bartkowski generally used to get around town in.

Exiting the car, Chuck idly fiddled with the tie loosely hanging around the collar of the white untucked shirt which, along with black slacks and shoes and pocket protector with pens marked him as the Buy More Nerd Herd supervisor. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, the lanky curly-haired young man answered back in a voice tone that was equal parts frustration and despondency, "Might as well…nothing better to do."

"Hey, cheer up, old friend!" Morgan exclaimed, slapping Chuck on the back as the pair entered the big box electronics and appliance store. "Your birthday party's tonight and Captain Awesome's inviting some of the girls he went to college with…it's gonna be fun."

"Oh…the party!" Chuck moaned, "Look, buddy…I need you to do a favor for me."

"What, pal?" Morgan replied.

"I need you to come by my room without Ellie noticing."

"Not a problem." Morgan shrugged his shoulders, "I'll just come in through the Morgan door."

"I also want you to bring a few things with you…" Charles then ticked off a list of items.

"Sure." Morgan again shrugged his shoulders, "But why?"

"Because we're sneaking out." Chuck replied, begging, "Look Morgan…I just don't feel like going to a party. Please! Promise me you'll help."

"Of course, I will." Morgan answered back as he placed a supportive hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'm Han to your Luke…Spock to your Kirk…"

"Q to my Bond." Chuck interrupted, "Thanks, Morgan. Operation Breakout will commence at 20:00 tonight."

"Huh?"

"Be at my room by eight o'clock tonight." Chuck explained as Big Mike's booming voice called out.

"Bartkowski! Get your ass to the Nerd Corral. You've got an off-site install!"

"I better get going, bud." Charles sighed, "See you later."

 _ **A luxurious apartment somewhere in Los Angeles**_

"Tabby!" Serena called out, "The phone's ringing! Can you get it? I'm taking my bubble bath."

"Sure thing, Serena!" Tabitha responded as she answered the phone, "Hey, Tabby here…what's up?"

"Tabitha…we need you and your roommate's help…we have a situation."

"One sec." The leggy blonde responded as she stuck her head into the bathroom, "Hey, Cuz…the office called…looks like we've got a job."

"Tell Fuzzy we'll be there when I finish my bath." Serena answered back.

"Hear that, Garson?" Tabitha said into the phone.

"I heard her." A grouchy voice responded through the phone. "Get here as quickly as you can. Tabitha…" The man's voice now took on a more conciliatory tone, "This is important. I'll give you the details when the two of you get here, but you'll be working with the CIA and the NSA on something that could be big—really big—and this could be a long-term assignment. We're going to need both of you and your special talents for this."

"I'll try to hurry Serena up, Garson." Tabitha replied, "We'll be in soon."

 _ **Washington DC**_

"General Beckmann…Mr. Graham…thank you for agreeing to this meeting." Richard Garson, the head of the Department of Extraordinary Operations greeted his CIA and NSA counterparts. "I've been apprised of Project Intersect." Smiling inwardly at the poker faces donned by his counterparts, the bureaucrat explained, "I was just briefed by the Secretary and will be briefing the agents I will be sending to coordinate with your people on the ground in Burbank." His lips then turned up in a plastic grin, "It just so happens they live in Los Angeles."

"So…" Graham inquired in a flat tone, "Who are these agents?"

Garson dropped down on his desk two pictures—one of an attractive blonde and the other an equally lovely brunette. Two of my best…albeit both highly erratic…operatives."

"Erratic?" General Beckmann raised an eyebrow. "Garson…we can't have any loose cannons on this."

"They're both professionals." Garson declared, "But they don't like being kept on a leash—so don't even try. Let them do their jobs and they won't let you down."

"We'll see." Beckmann replied and then prompted, "Let's get started. We've got a lot of work to do."


	2. Chapter 2

She's Cast a Spell on You

Chapter 2

"Hey, Fuzzy!" Serena smirked at the DEO head as she and Tabitha breezed into his office. After the two witches poured cups of coffee for themselves, they sat down on the chairs in front of the Director's desk. "Ok…we're here. What's so important that you had to get me out of my comfy bubble bath?"

Garson slid a manila folder across the desk to the two women. Maintaining a no-nonsense look on his face, he began his mission brief. "The Secretary has asked us to coordinate with the NSA and CIA on this project. You won't be working with them on every mission, but there will be times they will need you and your unique…gifts. And there will also be times you'll need them."

"Hey, Serena!" Tabitha grinned as she at once recognized the photograph of the man, "Take a look. One of the agents is Stud Muffin."

"You don't say!" Serena chuckled as she took the photo, "Well…what do ya know! It is Stud Muffin!"

"I don't want to know…do I?" Garson interjected with a sigh of exasperation. "Anyway…the man is John Casey, and he's one of the NSA's top hitters. His last assignment was this man…" He then handed over a picture of a young man lying in a pool of blood with what appeared to be an ugly bullet wound on his chest. "Bryce Larkin…a rogue CIA agent. Be warned…" The director cautioned in a voice of genuine concern, "…Casey has absolutely no problems taking out agents belonging to competing agencies—even if they're allied like ours—if his orders state for him to do so or if he has been given discretion in the matter. He already tried to take out the CIA agent he's partnered with now. From what I have learned, he's on a razor's edge. Be careful with him."

"Guess we caught him in a good mood in Paris." Tabitha remarked as she mentally reevaluated Casey.

"Yeah." Serena agreed as she also reassessed Casey as a potential threat. "What about the woman?" The raven-haired beauty asked as she examined the picture of a slender, attractive, athletically built blonde woman.

"Proceed with caution dealing with her too." Garson advised. "Her name…cover name at least…is Sarah Walker. She's Graham's chief enforcer. Her fellow operatives in the Agency call her the 'Ice Princess' because she carefully guards her emotions and normally doesn't let anyone get close to her. However, there are at least two…maybe three…exceptions."

"And those exceptions are?" Tabitha inquired.

"One of them was Bryce Larkin." Garson replied, "Walker and Larkin enjoyed an off duty relationship."

"So they screwed each other." Serena said with a snort, "Big deal. I lost count of how many men I've bedded sometime around the reign of George III. Men come and go…usually faster rather than slower. Right, Tabby?"

"Yeah." Tabitha shrugged her shoulders, "Wham…Bam…thank you, Jack. No big thing. Although…" She quipped with a twinkle in her eyes, "…in Stud Muffin's case…it was a big thing."

"Yep…" Serena laughed, "Nothing little or fast about Stud Muffin."

Shaking his head, Garson picked up where he was interrupted, handing his oft-irreverent agents another set of photographs. "It apparently was something more for Walker and Larkin though. These photos were taken while they were on holiday at Cabo."

"Looks like they had a good time." Tabitha noted, "So…who are the other exceptions?"

"One is Carina Miller. She was in Graham's CAT team with Walker." Garson reported. "They bailed each other out of a couple of tough spots—most recently Walker pulled Miller's ass out of a jam in Pakistan…"

"Ugh. I hate Pakistan." Serena grimaced. "It's dirty, smelly, and too many crazy men with guns. Not to mention the Kali cultists and other nutcases."

"Isn't Pakistan where Timur's hanging out these days?" Tabitha asked, referring to a particularly dangerous warlock.

"Yeah." Serena replied as a cold chill ran up and down her spine. All traces of humor gone, she declared to Garson in a grave voice, "He's one of the reasons why the two of us are working for you, Fuzzy, instead of partying 24/7. If him and his pals ever got their way, normal humans would be either worshipping them or dead. I don't know about you, but I don't want that."

"I'm not too fond of that idea either." Garson declared, adding as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "And I do appreciate what you and your cousin have done for us over the years—and on a personal note, I still owe both of you for what you did for me in Myanmar back in '88."

Glancing at her younger cousin, Serena's lips turned up in a warm smile, "You know Tabby, your father would utterly freak out if he heard me saying this, but I like living in the real world and I'm not about to let morons like Tamir fuck that up."

"Yeah." Tabitha agreed with a wistful grin on her face, "Dad would have freaked, but I don't think it would have surprised Mom in the slightest about you deciding on living in the normal world. I believe she felt that you were already well on the way there back when I was little. I think in the end that's why she wanted me to stay with you."

"Well…I'm glad she did." Serena's grin now took on a more mischievous glint, "And Fuzzy! You really do care about us!" She then quipped in an effort to lift the mood, "Now Dharamshala…that's nice. Got a chance to meet the Dalai Lama back in the sixties…I wanted to take you…" The dark-haired witch reminisced to her younger cousin, "But your Mom and Dad said no way…very loudly in Darrin's case as I recall."

"Yeah." Tabitha laughed, "Dad could get pretty vocal where Mom's relatives were concerned."

The director quickly interrupted, "Don't worry about Miller for now. She's not our concern. Let's get back on track, please."

"Okay, then…" Tabitha inquired as she took a sip of her coffee, "Who's number three…this guy?" She asked, pointing to the third picture: that of a young man with dark curly hair. "He's pretty good looking…I mean I wouldn't kick him out of bed. What do you think, Cuz?"

"I'd do him." Serena shrugged her shoulders. "He's kinda cute in that nerdy sorta way."

"What's so special about him?" Tabitha asked.

"His name is Charles Bartkowski, and he's the reason for all this." Garson explained. "He's the Intersect."

"Okay…" Serena drawled, "What's an Intersect and why is it so important?"

"This could take some time, so we might want to freshen our coffees before I continue the briefing." Garson suggested. A short time later, after they had refilled their mugs and returned to their seats, the director resumed his update. "This is everything we know to date on the Intersect and Mr. Bartkowski…"

After mentally digesting all of her boss's lengthy presentation, Tabitha exhaled, "Poor kid. He didn't ask for any of this."

"No…he didn't." Garson agreed, "But, based on his performance in his first two missions, he seems to possess a great deal of natural talents even without the Intersect in his head. He's intelligent, adaptable, quick witted. Got a lotta guts too. Landed a damned chopper without any training at all and with Walker talking him down. He's got no problem putting himself in harm's way for those two pros when I'm not so sure they'd do the same for him." He then paused for a moment, "Let me rephrase that. I don't think Casey would take a bullet for him unless the mission required it, but I'm beginning to think Walker might. Really, Bartkowski's everything you want in a good agent. All he's lacking is a little confidence."

Tabitha remarked somewhat caustically as she read Bartkowski's dossier, "Screwed over by his best friend at college who gets him kicked out of school and then screws his girlfriend on top of that—talk about rubbing salt into the wound! You know, the more I read about Bryce Larkin, the more I wish Stud Muffin hadn't killed him so that I could have turned that bastard into a 180 pound artichoke." Shaking her head, she continued reading the dossier, "Living with a sometimes overprotective sister and her picture-perfect boyfriend. Stuck in a holding pattern working at a Buy More. This guy's the poster child for schlemiel."

"So…what do you want us to do?" Serena asked, getting to the point.

"You're to make contact with the three of them at the Burbank Buy More. Go in with a blue lap top and find Casey. His cover is as an employee there working in the appliances section. He'll direct you to Bartkowski. Walker will also be there. Once you meet them, instruct them to report to your apartment where we'll brief you all on your assignment."

"Why our pad?" Serena inquired, "Why not one of theirs?" Then, figuring out the reason, the dark-haired beauty nodded her head knowingly, "Our place is magically warded."

"That means the threat is supernatural." Tabitha concluded.

"Right." Garson nodded his head in affirmation. "You'll most likely have to reveal who and what you are to them. Normally…" He declared in a consoling voice, "I'd just let the two of you handle this alone, but there are concerns that there might be something far deeper at work and that the Intersect could be involved. That's why we're bringing in Bartkowski and his handlers."

"If we're working with them long term…" Tabitha noted, "We're going to need to set them up with wards and enchantments."

"I'll let you work out the details on all that." Garson interjected as he rose to his feet, indicating that the meeting had come to an end. "Good luck to you both and…try not to turn everyone into frogs."

"No promises, Fuzzy!" Serena chuckled as she and Tabitha, after rising to their feet, popped out of the office and reappeared in their luxurious penthouse apartment in Los Angeles. "So, Cuz…" The raven-haired witch inquired, "Your car or mine? Or should we just pop over?"

"Mine, I think." Tabitha responded as picked up the keys to her white with black racing trim 1968 Chevrolet Corvette convertible. "Traffic's not too bad right now and I feel like driving."

"Cool." Serena grinned, "Let's split."

 _ **Burbank**_

"Agent Walker…Agent Casey…" General Diane Beckman acknowledged as she and her CIA counterpart addressed their agents currently in Casey's Echo Park apartment by video conference. "You and the Intersect will be working on a long term mission with two DEO agents."

"DEO?" Casey grumbled, "Aren't they the ones who handle all the weird stuff."

"Correct." Graham interjected, "These are the two agents you will meet. I believe…" A ghost of a smile crossed the CIA director's face, "You are already familiar with them Agent Casey."

A quick cough escaped Casey as his eyes fell on the photographs of the two women he had met and had a tryst with. Noticing his partner's raised eyebrow, he reluctantly confirmed, "We…bumped into each other in Paris after I had finished the Du Brevart assignment and before Larkin. I didn't know they were DEO agents at the time."

"What do we know about them?" Sarah inquired, her posture reflecting her ill ease with the notion of putting Chuck's life in the hands of a pair of unknown agents.

"We know their names." Beckman replied, "They're cousins…"

"The blonde's name is Tabitha." Casey interjected, "And the brunette is Serena. I didn't catch their last names." He admitted, his cheeks reddening slightly as Sarah barely repressed a snicker.

"Their last names are Stephens." Graham responded, "Other than that, we don't know a lot about them."

"The DEO is notoriously tight with information regarding its agents and the cases they handle." Beckman interrupted, "It took both Graham and me using a fair amount of leverage just to get their names and pictures."

"Maybe Chuck will be able to flash on one or both of them." Sarah suggested, deliberately stressing his name.

"If the Intersect can find out more information…" The general replied, agreeing to Agent Walker's suggestion, "…then that would be most helpful."

"Whatever the DEO has tumbled on must be extremely serious for it to reach out to us. As General Beckman pointed out, it's one of the most secretive agencies in the business." Graham stated, further advising, "That means they need us…they need you. While you're working with them, try to find out as much information about them and the DEO as you can."

"Understood, Sir." Sarah acknowledged.

"Got it, General." Casey replied, affirming his orders, "We'll keep an eye on them."

"Good." Beckman and Graham both nodded their heads in satisfaction. "Here's how you will recognize them." The general instructed, "They will come into the Buy More carrying a blue laptop. You will be their initial contact, Major. Once you contact them, bring them to the Intersect and Agent Walker. Once you're together, they'll fill you in on the mission. Good luck."

"Well…" Casey growled, barely hiding his anticipation at meeting the two women he had encountered in Paris. "You get the moron. I've got to get to work."

"Hey, Ellie!" Sarah, wearing her Wienerlicious uniform, smiled as Chuck's sister answered the door, "Is Chuck ready? I thought I'd give him a lift to work today."

"He should be just about ready now." Ellie Bartkowski, wearing blue scrubs, responded as she ushered Sarah into the apartment. Raising her voice, she called out, "Chuck! Sarah's here!"

"Be right out!" A male voice responded. His grin growing wider as he recognized his cover-girlfriend, Chuck exclaimed, "Hey, Sarah! This is a surprise."

"I figured I'd drive you to work today if that's all right with you." Sarah responded as she took him by the hand and led him away from the apartment, not really giving him a choice in the matter. Moving in closer to him, she slipped her arm around his waist as she whispered, "We're supposed to rendezvous with a pair of DOE agents at the store. We'll be working with them on an occasional basis from now on."

"DOE?" Chuck inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Department of Extraordinary Operations." Sarah answered as they approached her Porsche. "It's a very secretive branch of the intelligence community. Not a whole lot is known about what they do."

"Do you know anything about the agents?" Chuck asked as they got in the car and Sarah turned the key.

"No." Sarah shook her head as she put the car in gear and headed off down the road. "We know they're cousins. The blonde's name is Tabitha and the brunette is Serena. They apparently had an encounter of one sort or another with Casey in Paris recently…"

"An encounter?" Chuck exclaimed in a slightly high-pitched voice.

"He was…vague…on the details." Sarah flatly responded as she pulled into the Buy More parking lot next to a vintage white Corvette with black racing stripes. "We're hoping that the Intersect might have some more information on them."

"Well…I guess we'll find out soon." Chuck said with just a faint hint of nervousness as he exited the car and held Sarah's hands in his.

"Yeah." Sarah agreed. "Looks like they might already be here." She said, pointing to the Tabby 1 vanity plate on the Corvette. "Well…we've found out one thing about them. They're not the low profile type. Come on, Chuck. I want to get to the bottom of this."

As they entered the Buy More, Serena crinkled her nose in an expression of disgust. "What a dump!" She exhaled as her eyes took in the discount store. "Just look at this piece of junk!" She grimaced as she held up and then unceremoniously dropped a box containing a Mr. Coffee.

Catching the item before it fell with a quick levitation spell, using her finger to steer the Mr. Coffee, Tabitha, carrying the blue laptop in her other hand, smoothly slipped it back to the spot her cousin had taken it from. "Well…it is a discount shop, Cuz!" The leggy blonde chuckled, "What were you expecting? A Jura Impressa?"

"Oh poo!" Serena laughed, "We've already got one of those."

Morgan, standing in front of the Nerd Corral talking with Lester and Jeff, sighed dramatically as he spotted the two beauties, just missing the display of levitation they had put on. "I think I'm in love."

Shaking his head, Lester smirked, "Forget it, Grimes. They're way out of your league."

Squaring his shoulders, Morgan responded with a cocky grin, "We'll see about that!"

"Moron at twelve o'clock." Serena quipped a slightly built dark haired young man with a beard and wearing a green shirt approach.

"Maybe he can point us to Stud Muffin." Tabitha responded as the man drew closer.

"Hello, ladies!" Morgan greeted in what he liked to call his suave voice.

Rolling her eyes, Serena barely avoided letting out a snort of derision. "Just tell us where John Casey is, little guy."

"C'mon!" Morgan persisted, "I can do anything he can do and do it better."

"I seriously doubt that." Serena snorted as Tabitha pulled the sleeve of her blouse before the mercurial witch could turn Morgan into a Yorkshire terrier.

"Hey, Cuz! I found him…" The lovely blonde said, pointing to where Casey was standing next to a washer and dryer, his back turned to them. "There's Stud Muffin!"

"Bye, little guy!" Serena quipped, "Better luck next time!" Raising her arm, she waved, "Hey, Stud Muffin!"

A forlorn look on his face as he watched the two women rush off after Casey, Morgan stumbled back to the Nerd Corral, serenaded by Lester and Jeff's jeers as Anna Wu looked on shaking her head. "I told you that you were out of their league." Lester smirked.

"Women like that don't even look at guys like us." Jeff declared.

"Stud Muffin." Morgan groaned as Chuck and Sarah approached.

"Huh?" Chuck exclaimed as his friend slumped dejectedly on the counter.

"They called him Stud Muffin." Morgan sadly moaned, "What does Casey have?"

"Other than being tall, having muscles, and being good looking…" Lester quipped as Sarah whispered in Chuck's ear.

"The women Morgan ran into must be our contacts. We need to get rid of him and the others before Casey brings them over."

"Right." Chuck responded as he turned to Lester, Fred, and Anna, "Guys…Big Mike wants that backlog of busted computers in the cage repaired by the end of the day. You need to get started on them before Harry catches you goofing off."

"Yeah…" Lester grumbled as he and the others in the Herd moved to reluctantly comply, "We're on it."

"Buddy…" Chuck then gave his friend a knowing look.

"Okay, friend." Morgan nodded his head as he moved to leave, "I can take a hint. You wanna tell your girl goodbye."

"Stud Muffin?" Chuck turned to Sarah as the lovely blonde next to him barely repressed her snickers.

At once recognizing their voices and hearing the nickname they had given him, the corner of Casey's lip turned up in a slight grin as he remembered their last encounter. Letting out a growl, he turned around to see Serena, wearing a short skirt and blouse, and Tabitha, clad in a short dress showing plenty of cleavage, approaching. Seeing the blue laptop, he nodded his head as each woman took an arm. Then, seeing Chuck and Sarah approaching the Nerd Corral, he said in a low voice as he gestured with his head at the corral. "The others are here."

"Well…let's go meet 'em." Serena grinned as Casey, attracting an approving thumbs up from Big Mike as he walked by, escorted the girls, each one hanging on to one of his arms.

Sarah chuckled as she pointed to a very obviously pleased with himself Casey walking with the two women, "Casey's prancing!"

Before Chuck could answer his cover-girlfriend, the Intersect chose that moment to flash. In his mind's eye, Chuck saw the dark-haired woman in a Gainsborough painting dressed as an eighteenth century aristocrat. He then saw a picture of the same woman wearing a flapper's dress in the July 5, 1923 edition of La Monde. Then, he saw a picture of her in a 1967 newspaper, this time with long blonde hair and wearing a minidress, being led away from a protest. He saw a birth certificate: Tabitha Stephens. Born January 13, 1966. Mother—Samantha Stephens, Father—Darrin Stephens. He then saw a picture of her with the listing of Intern, _Trend_ Magazine, 1986.

"Did you flash, Chuck?" A suddenly concerned Sarah asked as Casey and the two women drew closer.

"Yeah." Chuck nodded his head, "But…you're not going to believe what I saw. I'm not sure I believe it."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.

"I saw that dark haired woman in a Gainsborough painting." Chuck gasped, "And I saw the blonde's birth certificate. If that's her, then she was born in 1966."

"Is the Intersect working okay?" Sarah asked. Then with a note of concern in her voice, she asked, "Are you feeling all right?"

"Yeah." Chuck nodded his head, "I'm feeling fine." He chuckled as he shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, for some reason, the Intersect was flashing their ancestors." Nodding his head, he concluded, "That's probably it. Has to be. No way the blonde's over forty years old, and definitely no way that brunette's over three hundred.

"Could be." Sarah, satisfied for now at Chuck's conclusion, replied as Casey and the women arrived at the Corral.

"Mr. Casey told us that you were the man to see about this computer." Tabitha said as she handed the blue laptop to Chuck. "I'm afraid that where computers are concerned, I'm a total virgin."

Coughing at the blonde's joke, Casey affirmed, "He's the one you want."

"So…tall, dark, and nerdy…" Serena said in a teasing voice, "You're Chuck."

"Uh…yeah." Chuck stammered as Sarah quietly fumed at the dark-haired woman's obvious flirtations.

"And I'm his handler." Sarah interjected unconsciously moving closer to Chuck as she spoke.

Smirking inwardly at the blonde CIA agent's reactions, Serena introduced herself and Tabitha, the blonde's name immediately drawing the attention of both Sarah and Chuck.

"Why were you two sent?" Casey inquired in a low voice.

"Not here." Tabitha shook her head as she held a finger up to the big man's lips as her eyes drifted first to Lester and Jeff goofing off near the TVs and then Harry Tang stalking the aisles, "Too many eyes and ears." She then took out a business card and jotted something down on the back. Handing the card to Casey, she winked, "Our apartment…dinner tonight…eight o'clock. Bring yourselves and an open mind."

"See ya later!" Serena waved airily as she and Tabitha both planted kisses on Casey's lips. Slapping the big man on the rear, the dark-haired beauty laughed, "Plan on staying late for afterschool instruction, Stud Muffin."

"So…Stud Muffin…" Sarah quipped as she and the others watched the two women, still laughing, make their way towards the store's exit, "What the hell happened in Paris?"

"Casey…you didn't…" Chuck grinned, "Both of them?"

The corner of his mouth turning up in a slight, smug grin, Casey settled for a grunt as his answer.

"Well…" Sarah sighed as her eyes went first to Chuck and then Casey, "Dinner tonight should be an interesting experience."

 _ **Author's Note:**_ _These type crossovers can be daunting affairs as you want to try the best you can to capture the essence of both shows while at the same time making the crossover believable. My goal is to do everything I can to preserve the canon of both Chuck and Bewitched, however, there will be times I might have to maintain the spirit of canon while drifting away from the letter of canon itself in order to tell a good story. The core relationships in Chuck will remain intact: Chuck/Sarah is a given as is Devon/Ellie and eventually Morgan/Alex. I'm giving Casey some fun here because he usually doesn't get any (if you know what I mean) and he deserves to get some good lovin' every now and then._

 _A major plot point here is what happened to Samantha and Darrin and how events nearly fifty years ago will impact majorly on Sarah getting her memories restored as well as the core story. What happens to Samantha is a_ _ **major**_ _plot point which also figures into Serena's growth post-Bewitched and why she ended up as Tabitha's guardian and later roommate and friend._

 _Regarding Serena and Tabitha's relationship: They are first cousins once removed. Technically, the correct terms to use would be aunt and niece in referring to their relationship. However, shortly after Tabitha entered her teen years, the relationship between the two changed from guardian-dependent to a very close friendship. That's why they refer to each other as Cuz._

 _I do hope people are enjoying this story and please let me know what you think._


	3. Chapter 3

She's Cast a Spell On You

Chapter 3

"So…this is where they live." Chuck said as he got out of Sarah's Porsche.

"Yep this is it." Sarah replied, pointing to where Tabitha's white Corvette was parked next to a red convertible 1969 Ferrari Daytona Spyder with S'RNA 1 vanity plates.

"They sure don't believe in keeping a low profile." Chuck whistled as his eyes took in the clean lines of the Italian sports car.

"You can admire the cars later." Casey said as he joined the couple.

"In a hurry to meet your girlfriends?" Chuck quipped, earning in return a low growl from Casey as a slight smile crossed Sarah's face.

After an elevator ride up to the penthouse, the trio were admitted into their new teammates' apartment, their eyes widening in astonishment at the luxurious—really sybaritic—furnishings and décor. "You like?" Tabitha grinned as she and her cousin entered from a side room.

"Wow…" Chuck whistled in admiration as his eyes fell on what seemed to be an original movie poster of "Forbidden Planet". "Is that…"

"Yep." Tabitha grinned, "Sure is. I saw it and couldn't resist. I like to collect stuff like this."

"You should see her toy collection." Serena laughed, "She still keeps the ones she had as a child."

"That's so cool!" Chuck exclaimed, feeling a kind of connection with the other blonde in the room. "Isn't it, Sarah?" His eyes then fell on a picture of a lovely blonde woman wearing a pale-blue dress seated beside a ruggedly handsome dark-haired man in a business suit with a little blonde-haired girl about two years old wearing a creamy-white dress with pink trim seated between them. As he gazed at the picture, he flashed. _TWA Flight 83…bomb…no one claims credit…an obituary page for Darrin Stephens, a senior account executive for McMann and Tate, married to Samantha and father of two children, Tabitha, age 6 and Adam age 3. A missing person's report for one Samantha Stephens dated December 1972, one month after the death of her husband. Legal documents from Social Services: Custody of Tabitha Stephens granted to Serena Stephens, cousin; custody of Adam Stephens granted to Maurice Dobson, London, United Kingdom._

"Did you just flash, Chuck?" Sarah asked in a whisper.

Nodding his head, Chuck gazed into Tabitha's eyes, "You're her." He said in a hushed voice, pointing to the toddler seated between the two adults. You're the little girl. And those are your parents. I'm so sorry."

"Chuck…" Sarah interjected, "Do you realize what you're saying? That's impossible. If she were that little girl in the photo, she'd be over forty years old. Look at her…she's about my age."

"Actually…" Tabitha interrupted as she wiped a tear from her eyes, "He's right. That little girl is me. And yeah, I'll be forty-two years old this coming January."

"Impossible." Casey responded, shaking his head, "I'm thirty-eight…no way you're older than me."

"Sorry, Stud Muffin." Tabitha answered back, her lips turned up in a grin, "But I am. And my cousin is…"

"Older." Serena interrupted with a smirk. "A lot older."

"That was you in the Gainsborough painting and in those pictures I flashed. The flapper outfit and being led away from that protest in the sixties…that was you too." A bemused Chuck concluded and then inquired, "But how?"

"You saw that?" Serena exclaimed, "I didn't know that ol' thing was still around! Tommy painted that on a lark. We ran into each other at one of the Duke of Somerset's parties and…"

"Wwwwww…wait a minute!" Chuck stammered, "Are you telling us that you knew Thomas Gainsborough? The eighteenth century English painter?"

"This is getting ridiculous." Casey growled, "You're telling us you two are what…immortal or something."

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Tabitha announced, "We're witches. Card carrying, cauldron brewing, spell casting, witches."

"Yeah…right." Casey chuckled and then, his smile disappearing to be replaced by a menacing growl, "Now tell us the truth."

Sighing, Tabitha replied, "Okay…you want proof." She twitched her nose, levitating an apple from a fruit basket on the kitchen table to Casey's lap. "Thought you might like a snack, Stud Muffin." The blonde witch grinned.

"Nice trick." Chuck responded, still not believing the bombshell that had just been dropped on them. "I couldn't even see the wires."

Her lips turning up in a mischievous grin, Tabitha remarked, "I see this is a tough room. All right…time for a road trip. Where to, Cuz? Paris? Sydney?"

"Nah." Serena answered back with a wicked grin, "Let's keep it closer to home. We don't want them getting sick." She then offered a suggestion, "How about that dingy old store we were in?"

"Sounds good to me." Tabitha grinned as she turned her gaze on her guests, "Ready?" Then, she and Serena both snapped their fingers and then everyone in the room disappeared only to reappear moments later in the Buy More right in front of Jeff.

"Whoah!" Jeff gasped, "No more formaldehyde for me today."

"Oopsie! Didn't mean to pop in in front of you. Go on to whatever it is your doing. Nothing to see here." Tabitha exclaimed with an embarrassed laugh as she and Serena once again snapped their fingers, bringing everyone back to their living room. "All right." She let out a breath. "Believe us now?"

Shaking her head, Sarah murmured, "What…were we just…"

"Yeah." A subdued Chuck nodded his head, "We were here…then we were in the Buy More…and now we're back here again." As the implications of what happened sunk in, his expression changed to one of amazement as he exclaimed, "Fantastic! You really are witches! Or are you really aliens?"

Laughing, Serena answered back, "We're witches. Although aliens do exist…"

"They do?" An astonished Chuck responded, "Really?"

"Yeah." Tabitha grinned, "But let's talk about that at another time, okay? So…" She took a deep breath, "Do you have any questions?"

"Yeah." Sarah nodded her head as she spoke to Serena, "How old are you really? If you knew Gainsborough, then that would make you over three hundred years old…"

"Normally…a girl doesn't like to talk about her age." The dark-haired witch grinned and then whispered in a conspiratorial voice, "Don't tell anyone else this, it's closer to five hundred years."

"Are you a branch of humanity or another species all together?" Chuck asked as his inner nerd came out.

Chuckling, Tabitha replied, "You know…that's an interesting question that Serena and I have been looking into for quite some time."

"Yeah." Serena interjected, "We did some digging back in the nineties and we think that we started off as normal humans but diverged a little after the Toba supervolcano blew up."

"That'd make sense." Chuck nodded his head and then filled in his companions, "The Toba supervolcano caused a mass extinction. They think the number of humans on earth dropped down to less than twenty thousand. Homo sapiens almost went extinct. A small isolated population…maybe affected by radiation…"

"While you're probably right about Toba." Tabitha agreed, "I don't think the answer for why we are what we are lies in the natural world."

"Yeah." Serena agreed, "Something else happened…something more magical."

"Are you immortal?" Sarah then asked.

"Oh no…" Serena shook her head as both she and Tabitha took on more serious demeanors, "We are very mortal…we die just like you. A bullet through the head will kill one of us just like it would one of you."

"Good to know." Casey replied with a grim expression on his face.

"Yeah…it is." Tabitha agreed, adding in a grave voice, "Using a gun has saved both our lives a time or two when we found ourselves powerless." She then advised both of the agents, "If you find yourself taking on a witch or warlock, best way to take him or her out is with a sniper rifle at one kilometer range. Hit them before they even know you're there. Otherwise…if you don't have a defensive enchantment, it's jackass city—as in you getting turned into one."

"Thanks for the inside info." John responded, realizing that his blonde lover had just given him and his partners very important information. "Anything else we should know?"

"A lot." Serena responded, but we don't have time for everything right now, so I'll give you a quick run through and then we can talk some more about it later if you want." She then flashed the big man a flirtatious wink, "Maybe later…"

"Okay." Chuck interrupted, blushing slightly as he attempted to return the conversation to the subject, "You were talking about not being immortal. How long do you live?"

"Assuming we reach old age, we can live for a long time—thousands of years, in fact." Serena, now with a serious look on her face, explained. We're not immune from diseases like dementia and arthritis and there are a few ailments that are exclusive to us, and we are affected by old age." She then gestured with her head at a photograph of an elderly woman with a kindly face. "Aunt Clara." The raven-haired beauty said with a rare smile of genuine warmth on her face. "She passed on from natural causes a few years ago—she had been dealing with dementia since the early twentieth century or so—I think the first symptoms hit after Queen Victoria died."

"So…both your parents were witches?" Sarah asked Tabitha.

"No." Tabitha shook her head, "My father was normal. He worked for an ad agency. Their marriage was a bit of a scandal amongst most of my Mom's family. Kind of think of it getting the same reaction that an interracial marriage would have gotten in the 1950s and 60s and you wouldn't be too far off the mark over how he was treated. At one time or another, he was disintegrated, turned into an old man, turned into an ape…a dog…a donkey…I can go on. It's a pretty sore subject for me. So…if it's okay with you, I'd rather change the subject."

"Understood." Casey responded with a note of sympathy in his voice. Getting back to business, he then asked, "So…why are you telling us this?"

"Because if we're going to work together, we need to trust each other and part of that is knowing each other's strengths and weaknesses and playing straight with each other. We know Chuck's the Intersect. It's only fair that you know about us." Tabitha flatly replied. As their three guests nodded their heads in approval at Tabitha's answer, she continued, "Many of the threats you'll be dealing with now are supernatural: witches and warlocks…ghosts and ghasts…imps…the odd demon…all sorts of things that go bump in the night. You'll need our help with those and we'll need your help with human threats. Also…we might be helpful in dealing with some of your situations."

"Hmmm…" Casey nodded his head as he considered the blonde witch's suggestion, "Gotta admit, it has potential. Think about it…" He said to his CIA partner, "While one of us draws the fire of a potential target, the other one pops in the rear and takes them out."

"Extraction operations too." Sarah noted, agreeing with her partner. Then, addressing their hosts, the blonde CIA agent asked, "Okay…what's the mission you need our help with."

"We're going after a magic tome and the son of a bitch who's got it now." Serena responded. "A warlock by the name of Phillipe who's also an arms trafficker is currently in possession of it. He's got tight security—both magic and conventional. We've got to get that book while at the same time get as much intelligence on the arms deals as possible and hopefully take out the warlock."

"Two teams would work best." Casey proposed as he outlined his plan. "Tabitha and I will go after the trafficker while Sarah and Serena grab the book."

"Good plan." Tabitha nodded her head in agreement, "Our strengths and weaknesses compliment each other this way."

"What about me?" Chuck asked and then answered his question, "I know…wait in the car."

"Very good, Bartkowski." Casey responded.

"You'll need offensive and defensive enchantments." Serena declared with a smirk, "You don't want to get turned into frogs or worse. They'll only be temporary, so we'll do it just before we go on our mission."

"After the mission, we'll set you up with permanent enchantments and wards." Tabitha announced, "The wards will protect you and anyone in your homes from magical attack."

"Wait a minute!" Chuck held up his hand, "Are my family and friends in any danger?"

"That's why we're putting in the wards, Chuck." The blonde witch said in a kind voice, "They'll keep everyone safe."

"So…what do we know about the layout?" John inquired.

"That's where you guys come in." Tabitha answered back, explaining, "He owns a villa on Malibu Beach. We can't get near him…his witchdar will go off the moment he spots us."

"I guess it's time for Charles Carmichael to make his appearance again." Chuck surmised, his upper lip turning up in a slight grin at the anticipation of once again posing as his handler's boyfriend.

"Right." Serena concurred, fulfilling Chuck's wish. "Phillipe is holding a little party tomorrow afternoon. You three need to go in and take a looksee. Don't draw attention to yourselves or you might end up as his new room decorations or something worse. We can't give you any enchantments for this because it'll tip him off. Go in…get what you can, but don't push it and then get your asses out."

"Anything else you can tell us about him?" Sarah inquired.

"Yeah." Serena responded, "Me and him have history. That's one of the reasons why I can't be in the area until we actually go for the tome. I dumped him back in the thirties and he's still pissed."

"Dumped him?" Casey grunted.

"Yeah." Serena laughed and then shuddered as she lowered her voice, "He was too clingy." She then focused her attention on Sarah, "Whatever you do, my dear, don't let him get too interested in you. Don't even flirt with him. If you let him set his sights on you…well…let's just say that things could get pretty bad. He's not opposed to using love charms to get what he wants. Believe me…I know."

"Thanks for the warning." Sarah replied in a hushed tone.

"Okay then…if there's nothing else…how's about some dinner?" Serena offered as she twitched up a fine dinner on the table, complete with wine. "Then after…" She gave Casey a wink, "We can find other things to keep ourselves busy with."

"We can stay for dinner." Sarah responded as she took Chuck by the hand, "But after that, I think we should head back."

"Yeah." Chuck quickly agreed, "Tomorrow's a big day at work and then there's the party."

"What about you Stud Muffin…" Tabitha grinned as she sat on Casey's lap and whispered in his ear, "Stick around…Please…and not just fun and games…it's important."

After his teammates had left, Casey turned his attention to the two witches, "Okay…what's so important that you couldn't tell me in front of the others?"

Tabitha took out a small crystal. "This is. I guess you could call it an 'In Case of Emergency Break Glass' charm. It's dormant now, so it shouldn't trigger any of Philippe's defenses and because you'll be just a bartender, he won't be paying attention to you."

"If Philippe does what I think he's going to do…" Serena interjected, picking up the narrative from her cousin, "Then he's going to cast a spell on Sarah." She further explained, "He gets off on stealing other men's women—it's a power trip for him."

Nodding his head, Casey replied, "I've known men like that. But why do you think he'll target Agent Walker and not some other girl?"

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed her, Stud Muffin." Serena quipped with a wicked leer, "You're not blind. Besides her being a looker, Philippe will see Chuck as absolutely no competition."

"That's because the moron isn't." Casey snarked.

"To him, it'll be like taking candy from a baby." The dark-haired witch declared with a scowl. "Besides tricking me with a love spell when I wasn't looking, he tried the same thing with my cousin, Sammie before she met Darrin. Lucky for her, Uncle Arthur was there too and zapped him with one of his joy buzzer pranks. Gave her enough time to pop out."

"Okay…so how does this work?" John asked as he held the green crystal up and carefully appraised it.

"Set it down and then say the following words…" Tabitha instructed, reciting an incantation in Latin and making Casey repeat it over and over until she was sure that he had mastered it. "Under most circumstances, normal humans can't cast magic." The blonde witch explained, "But Serena and I have imbued the crystal with some of our magic."

"Once you've said the incantation, a doppelganger of me will appear." Serena smirked, "I made sure that I was at my most obnoxious when Tabby and I imbued the enchantment. I guarantee you, he will be so pissed off that you'll be able to get your friends and get the hell out. Do it right, and he won't even suspect that you did it. Then, once you make your getaway, come straight to us and we'll see what we can do about removing any spell he might have cast on Sarah and/or Charles."

"Thanks." Casey replied with a smile and a grunt.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way…" Tabitha grinned as she resumed her position on Casey's lap while Serena circled about and began to massage his shoulders, "Time to fool around."

"Okay…" Casey explained, his words addressed primarily to Chuck, as he gave the curly-haired young man and his CIA handler their earpieces. "I'll be working at the bar. You know what you're supposed to do, Bartkowski?"

"Yeah." Chuck responded as he placed his earpiece in his ear. "Me and Sarah are supposed to mingle and see if I flash on anything."

"Right." Casey nodded his head, "And what did Tabitha and Serena say?"

"Remember what Serena said…" Chuck reminded the lovely blonde standing next to him, "He uses love magic.

"We're not supposed to engage with Phillipe." Sarah interjected, shaking her head. "But I'm not sure I buy all this magic stuff."

"How can you explain appearing at the Buy More and then back at their apartment?" Chuck countered.

"I don't know." Sarah shook her head, "Maybe they drugged us and planted false memories."

"Normally…I'd agree with you." Chuck replied, "But…I just have a feeling that they're telling the truth. In any event, the less attention we attract—the better—right?"

"Yeah." Sarah responded with a nod of her head.

"Glad that's settled." Casey grumbled, further cautioning as he nodded his head in the direction of the villa, "Just stick to the plan. Now…let's get to work."

 _Next part: Chuck vs. the Warlock_


	4. Chapter 4

She's Cast a Spell on You

Part 4

"We're in." Sarah vocalized as she and Chuck mingled amongst the guest in Phillipe's garden.

"In position." John whispered from his position behind the bar.

"Good." Tabitha's voice came through the spies' earpieces where only they could hear. "We're monitoring you in the van across the street. How are things so far?"

"Spotted the target and he's got some arm candy and two goons following him." Sarah reported, referring to a blonde woman wearing an almost skin tight dress walking arm in arm with an urbane appearing dark-haired man.

"That's Phillipe for you." Serena quipped, "He loves to put on a show."

"Are his guards regular humans or magical?" Casey asked in between pouring drinks.

"Those guards are human." Serena replied, "You probably won't see any more warlocks—Phillipe doesn't like the competition. But there might be a witch hanging about and you will see other magical guards so be careful."

"Security cameras at the corners." Sarah murmured.

"They look like Trion X04s." Chuck interjected, "We sell them in the Spy Section at the store. I can deactivate them—no problem."

"Good." Tabitha responded. "Mingle and keep your eyes open for anything else."

"There's a door with two statues that look like little devils." Chuck murmured in between muttering polite hellos to fellow party-goers.

"Those are petrified imps, darling." Serena commented. "That door's warded. Try to force it and the imps will thaw out and believe me-you do not want that."

"There's a keypad on the side of the door too." Sarah noted.

"That's our way in." Tabitha declared and then inquired, "Chuck…do you think you can hack it?"

"I don't know." Chuck honestly replied.

"Well…" Tabitha suggested, "See if you can flash."

Concentrating his gaze on the keypad, Chuck shook his head. "Nope. Sorry. I've got nothing."

"No surprise there." Casey grumbled under his breath as Tabitha spoke with a more upbeat tone.

"It's all right, Chuck. We can't expect the Intersect to be some sort of giant 'I Win' button all of the time."

"Thanks, Tabby." Chuck responded and then suggested, "We still might be able to get through that keypad."

"Open to suggestions, sweetie." Serena's voice came through Chuck's earpiece, eliciting a slight smile from the young computer nerd.

"I saw something like this on a TV show recently." Chuck said, ignoring Casey's barely audible groan. "The good guys sprayed something that made the fingerprints visible and then just punched in the numbers."

"That still doesn't help us, Chuck." Sarah whispered to her cover-boyfriend. "We still don't know the sequence. And all we have to do is screw it up once and those things come to life."

"Sarah's right." Tabitha's voice came through, "But…nice try, Chuck. We still might be able to use your idea if we can get an idea as to what the sequence is."

As the couple approached the bust of a man, Chuck read the words engraved on the plaque underneath the bust. "Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy, and one ungrateful. Can't be…" He shook his head, "It can't be that easy."

"What, Chuck?" Casey's voice came through the earpiece.

"That simple." Chuck replied, the corner of his lip turning up in a slight grin, "I think I've figured out the code."

"An imposing man."

Quickly turning about to face the source of the voice, Sarah and Chuck found themselves standing before an urbane appearing man in this thirties neatly dressed in an Armani suit and speaking with a delicate Provencal accent. The man, accompanied by two men also wearing suits, extended his hand. "Louis XIV." The man explained, identifying the bust. "Secured France's place as Europe's premier power. Greetings. I am Philippe Gerard. I trust you are enjoying my little soiree?"

"Charles Carmichael." Chuck responded as he took the warlock's hand and shook it, "Carmichael Electronics."

"Ah…" Philippe exclaimed, "We must speak more later. I am looking to diversify my holdings into electronics and technology." His eyes then narrowed slightly as, bowing slightly, he took Sarah's hand in his and kissed the back of it. "And you, my dear…such a vision!" Releasing Sarah's hand, he turned his attention back to Chuck as his bodyguards subtly moved to either side of the curly-haired young man. "Mr. Carmichael? If you would accompany my associates…they have something to show you that I think you might find interesting. Don't worry. I will make sure that your…friend…is well taken care of."

"Better play along." Tabitha prompted to Chuck as she then spoke to Casey, "Get ready, Stud Muffin."

Reluctantly allowing himself to be led away, Chuck could barely hear the words being spoken by Philippe. " _Amor enim negare non potes te mihi_ …"

"Casey!" Serena's voice now took on urgency as she picked up on the warlock's incantation, "He just cast a spell on Sarah. The crystal! Now!"

Acting quickly, Casey moved out from his place behind the bar and placing the crystal down on the ground, recited the incantation he had been taught. Almost instantly, a doppelganger of Serena appeared.

"Philippe, darling!" Serena's double called out mockingly, "I see you still can't get a girl without first slipping her a roofie."

His attention diverted, Philippe wheeled about. "Serena…" He sneered, his words dripping with venom, "The last I heard, you and your cousin were acting the sluts in Munich."

"It was Berlin, Philippe, darling." Serena's double quipped back, "And you're at least three parties behind." Her contempt for the man obvious in her voice tone, the double continued to insult the warlock now slowly approaching it. "We would have invited you, Philippe, sweetie, but you didn't quite…" The double then held up her thumb and forefinger, leaving the tiniest of gaps between them, "…measure up to our…exacting…standards. Poor baby…" The double shook her head, "You fell short again."

Seeing that Philippe and his goons were now completely distracted, Casey moved quickly, grabbing Sarah by an arm as he urged Chuck, "Come on, moron, grab the other arm. We've got to get her out of here before he figures it out."

Recovering quickly, Chuck nodded his head as he took Sarah's other arm in his. "Let's go, Sarah."

"Not without my Philippe." An ensorcelled Sarah responded in a longing voice as she attempted to break free of the two men's hold on her.

Thinking quickly, Chuck responded, "He told us to take you to a private lounge where he'll meet you. But we've got to hurry. He doesn't want us to be late."

"That's right." Casey interjected, picking up on Charles' lead. "We don't want to do anything to disappoint Philippe."

"I don't want to do anything that would hurt my Philippe." Sarah, still under the love spell, responded. "Okay…let's go."

"Damn." Casey muttered as he and Chuck quickly escorted Sarah off the grounds just as Serena's double disappeared. "That was too close."

Rushing out of their van to meet the trio, Serena instructed, "Take her to straight to our place. We'll need to brew up a potion to counter the spell." She then turned to her cousin, "Tabby? Do we still have that troll's tongue?"

"We've got one left." Tabitha responded as they urged a reluctant Sarah, now becoming increasingly more violent.

"Let me go!" Sarah cried out as she kicked at Casey who dodged the blow just in time. "Philippe! Help!"

Moving quickly, the blonde witch twitched her nose and gestured with her hand, freezing the ensorcelled agent. "I'm sorry about that, but it looked like things were about to get ugly." She said as Chuck and Casey looked on in astonishment. "Let's get her in the van and get the hell out of here."

"Good thinking." Casey responded as Chuck and Serena put Sarah in the van while he took the driver's seat, and starting the vehicle, put it into gear and drove off. "How long will it take for that potion of yours to take effect?"

"Not long." Serena replied. "We just need to keep her on ice until we get to our place."

"Good call on Phillipe." Casey further praised as they drove down the road.

"Thanks." Serena replied with a half-smile that barely hid her simmering rage. "Get me drunk enough one of these days and I'll tell you what that bastard did to me in Nice back in '35."

"Will Sarah be okay?" Chuck inquired as he gazed down on his cover girlfriend, his face etched with worry and concern,.

"She'll be fine, Chuck." Tabitha replied in a soothing voice. "Once we get that potion in her, she'll recover quickly."

"I figured he'd try something like that." Serena said. "Besides the obvious, while under that spell, she'd have said or done anything he wanted. Philippe would have tumbled on to us right away." She shook her head, "I shouldn't have let her go without an enchantment to protect her."

"Don't beat yourself up over it, Serena." Casey replied. "Like you said, he'd have picked up on anything that you'd have given her. You two have been in this business as long as I have. You know that it goes with the territory."

"Thanks, Stud Muffin." Serena answered back with a smile as she kissed the burly agent on his cheek. "You're a sweetie. Now…floor it so that we can get home and get that spell removed."

"Your wish is my command." Casey grinned as he put more weight on the accelerator.

"Set her down on the couch while I brew up the potion." Serena ordered as the two men carried Sarah into the apartment.

"Can she be unfrozen now?" Chuck asked as he and Casey gently sat Sarah down on the sofa.

"Yeah." Tabitha nodded her head, "But be ready…just in case."

Recovering from being frozen, a panic-stricken Sarah looked wildly about the room. "Where am I? Where's Philippe? Take me to my baby—Now!"

"He's on his way." Tabitha replied in a soothing voice as Casey readied a tranq gun. "He told us to tell you that he loves you and that you're safe here with us."

"He told you he loves me?" Sarah replied, calming down somewhat.

"Yes, he did." Tabitha answered back, maintaining her reassuring tone as Casey remained alert. "My cousin is fixing something for you to drink." Seeing the doubting look on the CIA agent's face, the blonde witch quickly added, "Philippe told her to make it for you. He said it'll help you feel better."

"Okay then." A reassured Sarah nodded her head in agreement as Serena returned to the living room carrying a goblet.

"Give her this." The raven-haired witch instructed as she handed the goblet to Chuck. "She needs to drink it all."

"Here you go, Sarah." Chuck said in a gentle voice as he handed the goblet to his ersatz girlfriend. "Drink it all down-Philippe's orders."

Nodding her head, Sarah took the goblet and drank down its contents, making a face as she did so. Almost immediately after drinking the potion, she collapsed in Chuck's arms, unconscious.

"Is she all right?" Chuck asked with a worried look on his face.

"She'll be fine." Tabitha replied with a reassuring smile, "The potion just put her to sleep. When she wakes up, the spell will be lifted."

"She'll also have one helluva hangover." Serena interjected with a chuckle.

"You wanna carry her into my room?" Tabitha asked Chuck, "She can sleep on my bed. It'll be more comfortable for her."

"Thank you." Chuck replied with a smile as he stood up and took Sarah into his arms.

"You got her, Bartowski?" Casey asked as he noticed Chuck struggling with the burden in his arms.

"I got her." Chuck answered back, giving the NSA agent a brief glare as he carried Sarah into the bedroom and gently set her down on Tabitha's bed.

"She'll be okay, Chuck." Tabitha grinned as Charles covered Sarah with a blanket.

"Thanks, Tabitha." Chuck replied as he looked about the room, at once noticing the shelves with toys—mostly dolls and stuffed animals as well as the pastel walls and large canopy double bed where he set Sarah down. He also noticed a raggedy old stuffed pony lying on the bed next to Sarah.

"Serena wasn't lying about me collecting toys." Tabitha chuckled. "Most of them are from my childhood, but I picked up a few at garage sales and auctions, and, of course, E-Bay." Her lips then turned up in a warm smile, "I've had that pony since I was a baby. It's my favorite."

"Are those what I think they are?" An astonished Chuck exclaimed, pointing to a Wonder Woman doll and then at some Star Wars action figures.

"Yep." The blonde witch laughed, "That's a genuine Lynda Carter Wonder Woman doll. Grandmama and Grandpapa Stephens got it for me for my ninth birthday in 1975 and yes, those are original Star Wars figs. Serena got me those for Christmas in '79."

Noticing his gaze now shifting to the posters on the walls, Tabitha once again giggled merrily as she confessed, "I'm something of a nerd. I collect movie posters too. Serena took me to Star Wars when it opened, and I like sci-fi, fantasy, musicals and sixties rom coms."

"Is that poster…" Chuck inquired, pointing to a poster of John Carter of Mars with Dejah Thoris.

"Yep. That's a genuine Frazetta."

"Wow. Morgan would freak out if he saw all this." Chuck laughed.

"Well…I'm glad the room gets the Morgan seal of approval." Tabitha grinned as Chuck then spotted a picture of an attractive dark haired man standing next to Tabitha at a fair or carnival of some sort, both wearing clothing from the eighties, with Tabitha sporting the big hair that was popular during that time.

"The guy's Paul Thurston." The blonde witch laughed, "He was a local talk show host on KXLA. I worked there for about a year or so as a production assistant before my cousin and I got into the spy game. Most of the time I couldn't make up my mind whether to kiss him or turn him into a frog. He had this problem with commitment—if you catch my drift."

"You were looking for something more and he wasn't." Chuck surmised, his voice tone one of sympathy and empathy as he regarded his blonde host.

"Something like that." Tabitha frowned as old memories returned. "He took a job for another network as a gameshow host, but his show didn't go anywhere—six eps and then cancelled. I don't know what he's doing now. I haven't heard from him in years and haven't made any effort to get in contact with him. I just keep the picture for sentimental reasons." Tabitha replied in a soft voice before quickly changing the subject, prompting, "Why don't we let Sarah sleep. I'm sure Serena's put on a pot of coffee. I don't know about you, but I could use some caffeine."

"You're right." Chuck agreed, picking up on the blonde witch's hint. "Coffee sounds good right now."

About an hour later, Sarah straggled out of the bedroom. "What happened?"

"Philippe hit you with a love spell." Serena replied apologetically, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sent you in."

"We already went over this Serena." Casey interjected, "You didn't have a choice."

"Casey's right." Sarah declared as she lowered her head and covered her forehead with her palm. "I knew the risks in advance. I'm just glad you guys were there to pull me out. I…uhhh…I owe you one."

"Don't mention it." Serena answered back as she handed the blonde spy a glass of water and two pills. "Don't worry, it's just aspirin." She explained with a chuckle, "For that giant headache you're dealing with right now. Your mind's been messed with enough for one day."

"No argument there." Sarah replied as she gulped down the aspirin and water. "So…what's the plan?"

"Chuck thinks he's figured out the keypunch code to that door guarded by the imp statues." Tabitha replied, gesturing for Charles to continue.

"Yeah." Chuck nodded his head, "Once I read that Louis XIV quote, it all made sense."

"Wanna clue the rest of us in." Casey growled as Serena mussed the big agent's hair.

"Now…Now… Stud Muffin…play nice." She then spoke to Chuck, "Okay, Cutie…tell us what you got."

"Every time I appoint someone to a vacant position, I make a hundred unhappy, and one ungrateful." Chuck said, recalling the quote. "The sequence is one hundred and two—that's the total number of people. Then, one for the person appointed to the office. Then one hundred…"

"Because there's a hundred unhappy people." Sarah pointed out as she cocked her head to the left.

"Right." Chuck nodded his head, "Then one…"

"For the one ungrateful person." Casey muttered.

Nodding his head in agreement, Chuck concluded, "Then one hundred and two for the total number of people. He repeats the initial sequence. The last three numbers were put in as a trap to catch anyone who doesn't pay full attention to the quote."

"Are you sure about this, Bartowski?" John questioned, adding a cautionary note, "We only get one shot at this."

"I'm sure." Chuck nodded his head.

"All right." Tabitha took a deep breath, "How does this sound. We hit tonight. Two teams like we talked about earlier, but with one adjustment. Me, Sarah, and Chuck on the team that goes for the tome while Joihn and Serena go for Philippe and the arms intel. Figured you'd want first crack at the bastard, Cuz."

"Thanks, Tabby." Serena responded, "Once I'm done with him, they'll be looking for his atoms clear across the other side of the universe." The raven-haired witch then exited the living room, returning a few minutes later with rings, an amulet, and a large book.

"I'm going to enchant a ring for each of you." She said, addressing her remarks to the three normal humans in the room. "That will help to protect you against any magic. The enchantments won't make you fully immune and they're only temporary. It'll take some time to permanently enchant any items for you—we'll take care of that after we finish this job." She further warned, "A powerful enough witch or warlock—and Philippe is powerful enough—can break the enchantment. But he'll have to first cast an incantation to break it and that will take time. Time enough for you to hopefully take him out." She then took the Sig-Sauer 9mm she kept in her purse out and laid it on the table. "Tabitha and I will also enchant your weapons. Again, the enchantments are only temporary, but they'll do the job for now."

"What sort of enchantment does your piece have?" Casey asked as he nodded his head in approval at the raven-haired witch's choice of sidearm.

"It's not the gun that's enchanted." Serena chuckled, "It's the ammo. The rounds hit harder—Garson says they hit like ten millimeter rounds."

Seeing Casey's raised eyebrow at the sight of her Smith and Wesson Bodyguard .380, Tabitha smirked, "Don't let the caliber fool you, Stud Muffin. Like Serena, I enchant the ammo. Each round hits like a .45. Added to that, I put on another enchantment to improve its accuracy at long range."

"Long as it gets the job done for you." Casey replied knowingly, "That's the only thing that matters."

Serena then suggested, "If you'd prefer, we can improve your weapon's accuracy or lighten the weight or maybe provide an elemental enchantment where the rounds do frost or heat damage."

His lips turning up in a smile as he contemplated his options, Casey quipped, "I'll let you know later. I'm gonna need time to come up with a shopping list first."

"Take your time, Stud Muffin." Tabitha laughed, "There's probably an enchantment for whatever you want."

"What if we don't want to use guns or knives." Chuck inquired, "Anything for those of us?"

"Body armor." Serena joked and then seriously answered the young man's question. "I can give you an amulet that will give you a limited—very limited—ability to deflect a knife or bullet. It won't stop you from taking a nasty wound." She cautioned, "But it might save you from being killed. Other than that…' The dark-haired witch advised, "You really should learn how to use a gun—if for no other reason than because sooner or later your back or the back of one of your teammates is going to be up against the wall and that gun might be the only thing that'll save your lives."

"Like we said earlier…" Tabitha added, chiming in to the discussion, "There's been more than one occasion where we couldn't use our powers. It's times like those that make us glad we decided to carry—just in case."

"I'll think about it." Chuck replied noncommittally. "But I still don't like the idea of carrying a gun—much less using one."

"There might be a compromise solution." Tabitha proposed, "What about a tranq gun? That'll free you of the worry about taking a life, Chuck, while at the same time giving you a means of protecting yourself."

Seeing the doubting looks of his handlers, Chuck nodded his head in agreement, "I can get behind that."

"We'll talk about it later, Chuck." Sarah responded, her facial expression revealing her discomfort with her cover-boyfriend getting more involved in field work. "Don 't forget—our first priority is protecting the Intersect." Regretting her last words as soon as she said them, Sarah cringed inwardly as she heard Chuck's muttered grumble, "I have a name and I thought we were supposed to protect each other."

Picking up on the couple's body language, Tabitha chose to ignore it as she concluded, "Give us a few hours to enchant everything. While we're doing that, you guys are free to hang out here. All we ask is that you not read any books or touch anything on the shelves or in cases without asking us first. Some of the stuff we have here will either drive you crazy or is explosive—literally."

"Did you hear what she said?" Tabitha muttered to her cousin through gritted teeth as the pair began to lay out the items they were about to enchant, "The Intersect…like he's not even a human being!"

"Tabby…" Serena replied in a soothing voice, "I know that because of the way we all treated your father that your sensitive about stuff like that, but I don't think she meant anything bad by what she said. It was probably just a bad choice of words. I got a look at her face after she'd said it, and I could tell that she felt sorry for saying those words."

"Yeah…" Tabitha sighed, "I guess you're right—I hope so at any rate. I still have a bad feeling though that Beckman and Graham see Chuck as a thing that they can dispose of when they're done with it."

"You're probably right there." Serena agreed, her expression now grim. "Prune Face and Stone Face only care about getting results and making sure there aren't any footprints leading back to them afterwards."

"No argument there." The blonde witch agreed and then proposed, "I think we should keep an eye on Chuck after this caper's over with. Just in case Prune Face and the Stone Face decide that Chuck's disposable."

"Oh…what do you have in mind, Sweetie?" Serena asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"You know…" Tabitha smirked, "We've been in this penthouse for over ten years. I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a change in scenery."

After the sun had set and the teams had made their final preparations, the drove up to the warlock's estate. Exiting the van, Tabitha instructed the others, "Okay…this is where we split up. Serena…you and John know what to do."

"Yeah, Cuz." Serena nodded her head as she tossed Casey rope and a grappling hook. "We'll climb up and go in through the skylight." Flashing her teammate a mischievous grin and wink, the dark-haired witch quipped, "Ready, Stud Muffin?"

"Let's get this show on the road." Casey replied as the couple fixed silencers to their pistols.

"Right." Tabitha's lips turned up in a grim smile as she turned to her team. "We'll go in through the garden. Chuck? You know what you're supposed to do right?"

Chuck, carrying a tablet in one hand, nodded his head, "Yeah. I'm supposed to hang back behind you and Sarah and at the first sign of trouble, duck for cover."

"Good." Tabitha smiled back, "We don't want anything happening to you, Chuck."

"We're wasting time." Sarah grumbled in response as she pulled out her pistol from its holster behind her back. "Let's go."

"On three?" Serena grinned as she hefted her grappling hook.

"Three." Casey exclaimed in a whisper as he launched his hook at the same time his companion launched hers. Nodding in satisfaction as the hook struck the roof, John tugged at the rope until he was sure that the hook was secure. Turning his head to Serena, he nodded his head once as he and his companion began their climb up the wall.

Spotting a junction box, Chuck whispered, "We need to get to that box to switch off the cameras.

Scanning the area with her night vision gear, Sarah whispered back, "The area's clear. Move."

Creeping to the box, Charles opened it and studied the circuits. "Okay…I've got this. Moments later, his lips turned up in a grin, he announced, "All done."

"Good work." Tabitha smirked, "Okay, let's get that door unlocked. I'm dying to find out what's inside."

"They took out the camera security." Serena noted as she pointed to a now deactivated camera.

Nodding his head, Casey grinned as he and his companion crept towards the skylight. Taking out his tools, the NSA agent quickly unlocked the door. "Ladies first."

"Ever the gentleman, Stud Muffin." Serena smirked as she dropped down to the floor, followed soon afterwards by the man accompanying her. "Library should be over here.' She whispered, pointing to a door. "Give me a moment to check for wards or glyphs." After a few minutes of concentration, the dark-haired witch's lips turned up in an evil grin. "You wicked boy." She said in a silky voice, "Philippe inscribed a glyph in front of the entrance."

"Can you neutralize it?" Casey asked.

"Give me a moment." Serena replied as she uttered an incantation in a long dead language. "There…that should do it." Drawing her tranq pistol out of its holster, she remarked as she affixed a silencer. "Probably guards on the other side. Tranq 'em unless we have no other choice."

"Right." John acknowledged as he readied his own weapon. "We take 'em out quick and clean."

"Okay…wards taken care of." Tabitha declared as she glanced at both her companions. "The keyboard's yours, Chuck." She then cautioned, "Watch yourself and if you hear a cracking noise, get the hell out and don't look back."

"Cracking noise?" Chuck repeated with a nervous edge to his voice.

"Yeah…" Tabitha replied, "If you hear that, then something happened to wake up the statues. If that happens, you'll have just enough time to beat feet out. Run like hell. Me and Sarah will cover you.

"Okay." Chuck took a deep breath as he clutched the tablet in his hands.

"You've got this, Chuck." Sarah whispered as she took a deep breath.

"I've got this." Gritting his teeth, approached the door and, taking a deep breath, punched in the code sequence. Moments later, he heard a hissing sound. "Is it supposed to be hissing like that?" He asked as Tabitha and Sarah joined him.

"It's okay." Tabitha replied with a grin, "You did it Chuck." She praised as she opened the door. "Now, Philippe…" She purred, "Let's see what you've got inside."

After taking out their targets with single shots from their tranq pistols, Serena and John surveyed the posh library. Watching curiously as he saw his partner rummaging through the shelves, John inquired, "You don't think he's keeping the tome here, do you?"

"No." Serena replied with a grin, "No way he's going to keep a book like that on a library book shelf, but that doesn't mean there isn't something useful here. Philippe's like a lot of my people—he hasn't completely embraced modern technology. He'll store most of his important stuff the old fashioned way—we're looking for a hidden vault or safe or a switch leading to a storage area."

"Also…" Casey smirked as he held up a pair of manila folders with documents inside them, "Hard copy documents in the filing cabinets."

"Right, Stud Muffin." Serena quipped as she pointed to a painting. "Bet you there's a safe behind that painting."

"Let's find out." Casey grinned back as he took down the painting to reveal a safe door. "Guess you win the bet. You any good at cracking safes?"

"Baby…" Serena purred, "I'm the best."

"Behind this door." Tabitha whispered as the trio reached a door at the end of the corridor. "Give me a moment to check for wards or glyphs." Gesturing with her arms, the blonde witch recited an incantation in a sing-song voice. As she finished her chant, a circle of strange shapes appeared glowing.

"What are those?" Sarah inquired, pointing to the runes.

"Warding glyphs." Tabitha further explained, "They're like the wards I told you about that Philippe had set at the garden door. "These runes look like summoning runes. Trip them and something really ugly shows up."

"Ugly as in…" Chuck interjected.

"Ugly as in a demon…devil…or something worse."

"Something worse?" Chuck gulped.

"Oh, yes." Tabitha nodded her head, "There's some really bad stuff out there and morons like Philippe willing to bring them over here." Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, the blonde witch confessed, "That's why we've got to get that tome and get it back to the DEO asap. It contains instructions for the return of the Elders."

"Who or what are the Elders?" Sarah inquired.

"Bad news." Tabitha replied as she closed her eyes and then opened them. "We'll discuss the subject later. Right now though, I need to concentrate so that I can negate this ward." The witch then muttered another incantation under her breath as she drew a series of runes on the floor. Ending her chant with a final flourish, both Chuck and Sarah watched with mouths agape as the glyphs drawn by their companion seemed to rise up out of the ground and glide over to the door where they masked those already there. Then, a flash of light.

As the lighting returned to normal, Sarah pointed to the door. "The glyphs…they're gone now."

"Good." Tabitha replied, "Philippe's wards have been cancelled out. We should be able to enter safely now."

"Then let's go and get that book." Chuck prompted.

"Okay…" Serena let out a deep breath. "The magic defenses are down. Now to crack this baby." After several minutes, she was rewarded by a satisfying click. "Got it." Opening the safe door, she spied several documents and thumb drives as well as stacks of twenty and fifty dollar bills. "Okay, Stud Muffin…" The dark haired witch grinned, "Let's clean this place out and then get the hell out."

"Sounds good to me." Casey answered back as he made a final rummage through the file folders. "Looks like we got everything from our end. Hope the others managed to come through."

"I have a feeling they're going to be running into some problems soon."

Turning towards the direction of the silky smooth French accented voice, Serena's lips turned up in a cold grin. "Philippe, darling. Still playing with toys, are we?"

"Serena…I see you're still crawling about in the gutter." The warlock responded with a derisive grin as he gestured with his hand towards the dark-haired witch's human companion. "Hmmm…let's see…I think a footstool would be appropriate." He then snapped his fingers, frowning as his spell had no effect.

"You've given him an enchantment, Serena…bad girl." Diving for cover as John fired his pistol, the warlock called out to his bodyguards. "Kill the human. The witch is mine."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Philippe!" Serena bit back as she uttered a defensive spell, countering the disintegration spell the French sorcerer had cast at her.

Firing his pistol, Casey took down one of the bodyguards as Serena let out a whoop. "You all right?" He called out to his partner, trying in vain to mask his concern for the dark-haired witch.

"Tagged the bastard." Serena quipped, "Got him with a dazzle spell. Now to finish him." She said in a grim tone as she began her incantation just as Casey brought down the last of his opponents.

"Not tonight, cheri!" Philippe said in a mocking tone as he snapped his fingers at the last minute, popping out.

"Damn!" Serena swore as she clenched her fists in anger and frustration. "I thought I had him."

"We'll get him later." Casey consoled, "Let's check on the others."

"Yeah." Serena replied as she came down off her rage, "Good idea. Let's go."

Opening the door Tabitha and her group found themselves standing in front of a woman wearing a black gown and two men carrying guns. "Tabitha, darling…you didn't think we'd just let you waltz in here and get this?" She smirked, gesturing with her hand at a book inside a glass case.

"I figured it was a longshot, but what the hell…" Tabitha riposted, countering, "So…Allie…working for Philippe now?"

Shrugging her shoulders, the other witch responded, "He keeps me supplied with…subjects…for my projects."

Shaking her head, Tabitha sneered, her voice rich with contempt, "I knew her when we were children…she used to love pulling the wings off of butterflies."

"And now I pull the arms off humans." Allie replied as she gestured at Chuck.

Feeling a sharp pain, Chuck cried out, "My arm!"

Instinctively firing her pistol, Sarah's bullet impacted on the witch's arm causing her to cry out in pain and anger, "You bitch! I'm going to enjoy playing with you."

"No, you're not, Allie." Tabitha responded as she gestured with her arm, sending the other witch flying across the room to impact on the other wall. "Cover!"

The trio dived for cover as the gunmen fired, a round grazing Sarah as she dived behind a display case. "I thought these enchantments are supposed to keep us from getting hurt." The blonde spy complained as she fired her pistol.

"They did." Tabitha responded as she again gestured, sending one of the gunmen flying through the air. "If you didn't have them, Chuck would be missing his arm right now and that bullet would have hit your chest instead of grazing your arm. Now…why don't you be a dear and lay down some cover fire. I need to chant up a defensive spell before Allie finishes that spell of hers."

"Right." Sarah responded as she emptied her clip, killing one of the gunmen just as a high pitched whine began to fill the room. "What's happening?" She cried out as she covered her ears."

"Nihi tempus nihi solas…" As Tabitha chanted, the noise began to die down, causing Allie to redouble her efforts.

"What are you doing, Chuck?" Sarah asked as she noticed the curly-haired man crouched down beside her tapping on the keyboard of his tablet.

"I'm trying to hack into the fire suppression systems." Chuck responded. "I'm in!" He cried out triumphantly as the sprinklers came on. Her lips curling up in a smile, Tabitha uttered a single word, "Smoke," filling the chamber with a thick cloud of smoke.

Breaking the glass, the blonde witch snatched the tome. Pushing her companions to the door, She uttered another word, "Augue!"

Escaping as the room exploded, Chuck helped both women to their feet. "Did you just cast a…"

"Fireball spell?" Tabitha grinned, "Yeah."

"Cool." Chuck responded as they reached a window and then yelped in pain as he went flying through the glass.

"Chuck!" Sarah called out. Rushing to the window, she gasped as she was forced to watch helpless as Chuck began plummeting to the ground.

Gesturing with her hands, Tabitha stopped Chuck's fall and then began to gently guide him down to the ground. As she was concentrating on keeping Chuck from falling, she heard a loud crack—the sound of a gun. Her attention broken, she glanced to the side to see that Sarah had killed a burn scarred Allie with a bullet to the head. Nodding her head in gratitude, she returned to the window to see that Chuck, while landing in a heap on the ground, was none the worse for wear.

"Let's get out of here." The blonde witch said as she snapped her fingers, instantly teleporting her and Sarah out of the room, reappearing where on the grounds where Chuck was now struggling to his feet.

"You all right, Chuck?" Sarah asked as their group was joined by Serena and Casey, both running.

"Short of a few bruises, I think I'm okay." He then gave Tabitha a smile, "Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime." Tabitha responded, teasing, "Sorry about the rough landing."

"Get the book?" Serena asked.

"Yeah." Her cousin replied, looking down at the tome in her hands.

"Good." Serena let out a breath, "Let's get the hell outta here."

Returning to the witches' penthouse, the group spent several moments catching their breath and licking their wounds. "Did you get Philippe?" Tabitha asked as she set the tome down on the coffee table.

"No." Serena shook her head as she glumly replied, "He slipped away. Bastard." Then, looking down at the ancient book, she sighed in relief, "At least we got that thing. I'd hate to think what would have happened had Timur gotten hold of it."

"What's so special about that book and who's this Timur guy?" Casey inquired.

"Yeah…" Chuck interjected as he addressed Tabitha, "Does this man have anything to do with those Elders you mentioned earlier."

As Tabitha nodded her head, Serena took on a very grave demeanor as she spoke, "Before I tell you, we need to get some things straight."

"What sort of things?" Sarah asked in a flat tone.

"First off." Serena declared, "We'll give you all the intelligence on Philippe's arms network. You can hand that over to Stone Face and Prune Face and that should please them. But we keep the tome."

"What do you intend on doing with that book?" Casey asked as he and his partner tensed up.

"We're going to give it to our boss and he's going to make sure it goes into a very deep hole where no one will ever get to it." Serena responded, adding, "You do not want your bosses getting hold of that book—not if you like living in this world you're living in now."

"It's that bad?" Chuck interjected, then seeing the grave looks on both witches' faces, he prompted, "Maybe you should tell us what's going on."

"Before we do that." Tabitha responded, "You're going to have to promise us that you won't tell anyone what we're about to tell you now without our permission and that you'll agree to us taking the book. To ensure that you keep your word, we're also going to put a mild spell on you. It won't make you do anything you don't want to do, but it will alert us if you go back on your word. Those terms are non-negotiable."

"And if we refuse?" Casey growled as Sarah subtly shifted her weight so that she could easily draw her pistol.

"Then we wipe your memories of everything that happened. You still get the intel on the arms deals, and we go our separate ways." Spotting Sarah's movements, the dark haired witch's lips turned up in an evil grin, "And don't even think about drawing your weapons. The enchantments we gave you don't work on us—do you think we're idiots or something? Draw that pistol Ms. Walker, and we'll freeze you, Stud Muffin, and Chuck where you sit and we'll wipe your memories anyway and the intel goes straight to DEO and we'll let Fuzzy decide whether your bosses get it or not. So…what's it going to be?"

"Sarah? Casey?" Chuck pleaded, "Tabitha did save my life and she took you with her when she popped out, Sarah—she didn't have to do that."

"Come on Stud Muffin…" Serena smiled, adding a bit of honey to her words, "We make a good team…shame to bust it up over your bosses."

Nodding their heads at each other in unspoken agreement, Sarah answered back, "All right. We agree to your terms—with one exception. If we honor our agreement to not tell anyone for a period of time, you agree to lift your detection spell."

"Agreed." Serena replied as Tabitha nodded her head in agreement. "We'll cast the spell so that it expires after a reasonable period of time…say…two years? By then we'll either be fast friends or…we won't. Acceptable?"

Seeing both Chuck and Casey nodding their heads, Sarah agreed, "All right. Now…what's so dangerous about this book."

"Let's put on some coffee and we'll explain." Serena suggested as Tabitha went into the kitchen. "This is going to take a lot of time."


	5. Chapter 5

She's Cast a Spell on You

Chapter 5

"Okay…" Casey grunted, "We've agreed to your terms and you've cast your little spell on us. So…will you now tell us what's so important about that damned book."

"And who or what these Elders are." Chuck interjected.

"All right." Serena, taking a deep breath, conjured up a martini in a large stemmed glass before launching into her explanation. "We don't know a whole lot about the Elders except that they are old."

"Hence the name." Chuck quipped.

"Oh…you're a quick one." Serena rolled her eyes sarcastically as Casey shook his head. "We're sure they came before us…" The raven-haired witch continued, gesturing to her and Tabitha.

"That would mean before Toba." Chuck surmised, "Making them prior to 75,000 BCE."

"Right." Serena nodded her head, "We don't think they came before normal humans though."

"Why not?" Sarah inquired.

"Your myths and legends." Tabitha interjected, further elaborating, "Believe it or not, a lot of the fantastic creatures from your stories do…in fact…exist."

"Such as?" Casey prompted as a glass of Johnny Walker Black appeared in his hand courtesy of Serena.

"Leprechauns for one." Tabitha announced. "Nessie for another…" She said as an enthusiastic Chuck interrupted.

"You mean the Loch Ness Monster is for real?"

"Oh yeah." Serena laughed, "He was actually a warlock by the name of Bruce. I changed him into Nessie about sixty years ago as a prank."

"No!" Chuck shook his head, laughing, "A prank!"

"Yeah." Tabitha laughed. "Mom and Dad took us all to Scotland to see his cousin, Robbie when I was a kid. I don't remember anything about it—I was what…four…five…at the time?" Her lips then turned up in a wicked grin, "But I do remember Uncle Arthur a few years later telling me how Bruce got back at you, Cuz." Laughing at her cousin's red face, Tabitha playfully teased, "You gonna tell 'em Cuz…or should I?"

"He zapped a mermaid tail on me." Serena shamefacedly admitted as the others in the room laughed.

"I'd loved to have seen a picture of that." Casey chuckled.

"I've got one." Tabitha grinned, "Remember the picture Momma took."

"You didn't keep that…' Serena gasped, "Did you?"

Her grin growing wider, Tabitha darted into her room and returned with a photo album. "Here." She said as she turned the album to a page and pointed to a photo of Serena with her luxurious black hair done up and a green mermaid's tail.

Her lips turning up in an embarrassed grin, Serena took a sip of her martini, "Okay…now that everyone's had their laugh, can we continue?"

Closing the album, Tabitha nodded her head, "Yeah…we better get back to work. We can look at pictures at another time."

"Gotta admit." Casey remarked to the lovely woman seated across from him, "You looked good with your hair like that."

"Yeah." Serena smiled back, "I liked that look too. I'm thinking about going back to it. Anyway…where were we? Oh yeah…there's a basis of fact in a lot of your myths. So…Tabitha and I have been doing some speculating and digging over the years and we think we've found some ties with various ancient myths—Greek and Sumerian particularly—although I wouldn't rule out parts of Egyptian mythology either."

"How so?" Chuck queried as he found himself drawn into the discussion. "And what myths in particular? Gilgamesh?"

"For one." Tabitha nodded her head. "Maybe Osiris. Prometheus is another. Although right now, a lot of our attention has been on Pandora. We think there might be something about her box…maybe something that got let loose…or something more than Hope left behind."

"Yeah…" Serena concurred, further speculating, "What if that thing…or things…left behind weren't just ideas or concepts? What if there was an item…or items…more tangible. Like advanced technology or magic."

"Or both." Chuck remarked, picking up right away on where the two witches were headed. Turning to his teammates, he explained, "You've heard the saying that sufficiently advanced technology would appear to be magic to someone primitive?"

"Yeah." Sarah nodded her head, gesturing for her undercover boyfriend to continue.

"Well…that could be what we're dealing with here." Chuck concluded.

"A good guess." Tabitha smiled approvingly, "But what if we're dealing with something worse? A device of advanced technology that harnesses the power of magic?"

"That would be a virtually unstoppable weapon." Casey growled as the full implications of the blonde witch's hypothesis sunk in. Turning to his teammates, he stated with a great deal of reluctance, "You know for me, duty and country come first. But…" He shook his head, "I can't believe I'm about to say this—it goes against everything I've ever believed in and done, but…if that book does point to a weapon like that, we can't let anyone get their hands on it—especially our bosses. Can you imagine what Graham and Beckman would do with a weapon like that? Much less other powers or criminal or terrorist groups?" Turning to Serena and Tabitha, he grudgingly admitted as the other two humans nodded their heads in agreement, "You two are right. We have to find this weapon and make sure no one—not even our friends—can use it—period."

"Glad you see it our way." Tabitha smiled back at the three normal humans. "Here's the arms intel from Philippe. Should be enough to make Prune Face and Stone Face happy.

"Thanks. That should do nicely." Sarah replied as she took the thumb drive and written documents. "What are you going to do about the book and the other intel?"

"The book?" Serena sighed as she sipped her martini, "That we're going to put into a deep, dark, hole where no one can find it."

"Aren't you even going to look at it?" Chuck inquired, "Aren't you even in the least bit curious?"

"Hell yeah, we're curious!" Serena exclaimed, "But not so curious that we're willing to risk going crazy—which is probably what would happen the moment we read a single word in it."

"You have to be very careful with stuff like this." Tabitha interjected, "That old cliché about there being things that 'no one was meant to know' is very true. Read the wrong book…look at the wrong picture…and bad things can happen…very bad."

"So…how are we going to be able find out what we need to know to stop these witches and warlocks from bringing back the Elders?" Sarah inquired, shaking off her momentary surprise at having a glass of white wine suddenly appearing in her hand courtesy of Serena.

"Beer, Chuck?" Tabitha grinned and then chuckling at his weak head nod, materialized a bottle of Erdinger Kristall in his hand. She then answered the blonde CIA agent's question, "In some cases, we're going to have to take a calculated gamble and read a book or test out an artifact and hope and pray it doesn't blow up in our faces.

"Literally." Serena snorted.

"Right." The blonde witch, sipping a Canadian on the rocks, nodded her head. "In this case though, we don't have to do that." She said as she presented a roll of microfilm. "We're betting that Philippe has kindly provided us with what we need here. So…we're going to clue Fuzzy in on what's going on—you're invited to join us by the way—and then I'm going to do the analyst thing and pour over that reel."

"Good." Serena grinned as she playfully mussed Casey's hair, "While you're doing that, Cuz, I'm gonna get into some trouble with Stud Muffin." Looking at John, the dark-haired witch winked, "You don't wanna be messing with all that nerd stuff anyway—do you, John?"

"Not if I can help it." Casey grinned back.

"Don't look at me." Sarah declared, "I've got to make up a shift at the Wienerlicious to keep up my cover."

"Chuck…you can join me if you want." Tabitha offered, further prompting, "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea for you to see what's there in case that thing in your head picks up on something."

Nodding her head in agreement, Sarah opined, "That's probably not a bad idea, Chuck.

"Thanks." The curly haired computer nerd replied with a slight smile.

"Okay." Tabitha grinned, "We've got that set. So now, that leaves us the matter of warding your homes and permanently enchanting your weapons and those rings and amulets so that you have some protection against magical attacks."

"Yeah." John nodded his head in agreement. "I don't fancy being turned into a toadstool."

"How's about this?" Serena offered, "Tabby will take care of Sarah while I get you fixed up, Stud Muffin, and then we'll meet up at Chuck's place and get you all warded up. Sound good?"

"Works for me." John nodded his head in agreement.

"Sounds good." Sarah agreed. "Chuck and I'll meet you at my apartment." She said as she jotted down her address on the back of a business card. She then turned to her ersatz boyfriend, "You don't mind going back home with Tabitha, do you? I really do have to make up that shift or I'm going to get fired."

"Not a problem." Chuck replied, "If Tabitha doesn't mind, that is.

"Glad to give you a lift." The blonde witch responded with a smile, "Serena and I want to check out that vacant apartment across from yours and John's while we're there too."

Seeing the surprised look on the three human agents' faces, Serena laughed, "We decided we needed a change of pace and seeing as how we're probably going to be working more closely with each other, we figured that…" She shrugged her shoulders, "…why not? It's a nice neighborhood and the apartments seem roomy enough."

"Chuck?" Tabitha asked, addressing the young man quietly sipping his beer. "That's not going to be a problem for you is it?"

"Yeah, Stud Muffin…you're not gonna mind are you?" Serena purred as she gave Casey a quick kiss on the lips, "Makes things easier for work…and play."

"Fine by me." Casey shrugged his shoulders, figuring that the two witches moving closer to him—besides providing the obvious fringe benefits—would also make it easier for him to keep an eye on them."

"Chuck?" Tabitha then inquired, "We're not going to have any problems with your sister or her boyfriend interrupting—are we?"

Chuck shook his head. "No. They're both working at the hospital now and Morgan's at Lester and Fred's playing Magic: The Gathering so we don't have to worry about him popping in."

"And you don't have a problem with us moving in next to you—do you?" Tabitha persisted, adding with a smirk, "I promise we'll keep the mayhem to a minimum."

"Yeah." Serena laughed, "No loud orgies after midnight."

Taking a deep breath as he weighed his options, Chuck replied with a shrug of resignation. "Casey's already there, so I guess a couple more spies spying on me won't make that much of a difference."

"I promise, Chuck." Tabitha vowed, "No window peeking by us." She then looked into the young man's eyes, "So…we good?"

"Yeah." Chuck responded with a slight grin, "We're good."

"All right." Tabitha grinned, "All right. Looks like we've got a plan. Let's do it."

After warding Sarah's apartment, Tabitha and Chuck drove to his apartment at Echo Park. Smirking as she recognized Serena's Ferrari already in the parking lot, the blonde witch joked, "Well…looks like my cousin's already here."

"How long's this going to take?" Chuck asked as he glanced down at his watch.

"It'll take as long as it takes, Chuck." Tabitha replied. "If I knew the traffic was going to be as bad as it was, I'd have just popped us in, but…" She shook her head, "Come on…sooner we get started—sooner it'll get done."

"Okay." Chuck nodded his head, "You going to do the same thing you did at Sarah's?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Tabitha answered back as she began to draw runes on the door sill. "Now…I need to concentrate." After about an hour, the blonde witch took a deep breath and exhaled, "Okay…that should do it. The wards will also keep uninvited guests from popping in on you." The witch explained further, "Let's just say Serena and I have…family…problems that we don't want you guys to have to deal with."

"What sort of family problems?" Chuck inquired.

"Long story." Tabitha sighed, "Maybe one day I'll tell you."

"Fair enough." Chuck responded, "Sorry I asked."

"Hey…" Tabitha smiled as she patted the back of Chuck's hand. "Don't be. And I'm not holding out on you because I don't like you or trust you. You're a nice guy and all, but we have just met. Let's get to know each other a bit better before I unload all my family problems on you. For now, let's just say that it's complicated. In any event, you don't have to worry about it. But…if you get in a bind, you can call on me and Serena and we'll come running."

"How do I do that?" Chuck asked, "Is there a charm or do I have to recite some sort of incantation?"

"Just call out our names." Tabitha chuckled, "We'll hear you." Taking a deep breath, she asked as she eyed the sofa, "Mind if I sit down and rest a bit? Doing this is kinda tiring."

"Go on ahead." Chuck responded, offering, "Can I get you something to drink or eat?"

"Yes, please." Tabitha smiled back, "A cola would be nice right about now."

"All right." Chuck smiled as Sarah joined her fellow blonde on the couch. "One coke coming up.

"So…how long have you been with the DEO?" Chuck asked, trying to make conversation.

Chuckling, Tabitha responded, "A couple of decades or so…give or take a few years. So…how long have you been with Buy More—I mean before the Intersect stuff happened?"

"I'm sure you've read my file." Chuck replied as he returned with a couple of glasses of cola. Handing one of the glasses to his guest, he sat down next to her on the couch, leaving plenty of personal space between them.

"Yeah…but…like you said, we're just making conversation." Noticing the distance between the pair, she smirked, "I don't bite, you know…well…actually I do, but you gotta buy me dinner and drinks first. I also promise I won't give you witch cooties if you're worried about that."

"I'm sorry." Chuck replied as he noticed the wide gulf on the sofa between the two. "I just didn't want Ellie and Devon to get the wrong idea if they were to come in."

"You don't want them thinking you're cheating on your girlfriend who's not really your girlfriend—right?" Tabitha laughed as she sipped her drink.

"Yeah." Chuck answered back laughing. "I know it's kinda silly…"

"And it's kinda confused you." Tabitha finished with a warm smile and then chuckled as she saw the look on her host's face. "You're forgetting…I've got about twenty years on you. Been there…done that…got the t-shirt."

"Paul Thurston?"

"Sorta…kinda." Tabitha confessed. "The situation was a little different though. I mean…our relationship wasn't a cover or anything like that. Deep down, I think he really did love me and I know I loved him, but…"

"Commitment issues." Chuck finished.

"Right." Tabitha nodded her head. "A couple of times, we came close, but something would always happen to mess it up…an old girlfriend or supermodel would show up…Aunt Minerva would introduce me to a handsome warlock…someone would slip someone a love potion…you know…" She chuckled, "The usual where witches and normals are involved." Her laughter fading, the blonde witch, speaking in a gentle voice, advised, sounding a cautionary note as she spoke, "Take this for what it's worth, but, you need to get things straight about how you two feel towards each other—and the sooner you do that the better. Because…especially in this line of work…if you don't…you're going to end up hurting each other."

Nodding his head as he pondered over the blonde witch's words, Chuck smiled, "It's been five years." Seeing the look of confusion on his guest's face, he chuckled, "I've been at the Buy More for five years. Since I got expelled from Stanford. And yeah…before the Intersect, I felt like a rat in a cage."

"And now?" Tabitha gently probed.

"I feel like a rat in a cage being experimented on." Chuck replied morosely. "The only reason all of you—Sarah included—are interested in me is because of that thing in my head. Take it away, and you all disappear."

"Leaving you alone at the Buy More with Morgan and the twit twins." Tabitha said in a soft voice. She then gazed into the young man's eyes as she reached over and placed a gentle hand on his arm. "Chuck? You've heard the old expression that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing?"

"Yeah." Chuck nodded his head.

"Imagine how dangerous a whole lot of knowledge would be."

"What are you saying?" Chuck, his voice rising an octave, replied.

"Just…be careful." Tabitha warned as the front door opened to reveal Devon and Ellie, both carrying bags of groceries in their hands.

"Hey, Chuck!" Devon called out and then seeing the stranger on the couch, greeted politely, "Ummm…Hi."

"Hey, Ellie…Devon." Chuck replied, introducing the blonde sitting next to him on the couch. "This is Tabitha. She's a friend."

"Hi." Tabitha said with a cheery wave. "My cousin and I are moving into the apartment across the way and Chuck invited me in."

"Hello." Ellie responded as she and her boyfriend set their bags down on the kitchen counter. "Chuck's never mentioned you before…"

"I…uhhh…just haven't gotten around to it yet." Chuck stammered until he was rescued by Tabitha.

"I'm a freelance media consultant. Internet startups and mobile apps are becoming a bigger part of my business—that's how I met Chuck.' She smoothly lied, "I needed help setting up my network and he was the Nerd Herder they sent to help me through it. He then introduced me and my cousin to Sarah."

"Cousin?" Devon exclaimed as the doorbell rang. Answering the door, Captain Awesome found himself facing a very attractive dark-haired woman wearing a gold necklace, short skirt, and thigh-high boots.

"Well hello tall, blond, and stacked." The woman growled sensuously, breezing on past as Devon blushed a bright crimson.

"Ummm…. Hi?" Devon stammered.

"Serena!" Tabitha called out with a big grin on her face, "How'd it go with the apartment?"

"Just fine, Cuz." Serena grinned as she strolled into Chuck's apartment as if she owned it. "I signed the lease and we can move in whenever we want."

"Welcome to the neighborhood." Ellie interjected, clearing her throat. "I'm Ellie—Chuck's sister." She then turned her head towards Devon, giving him a subtle warning glare, "And this is Devon—my boyfriend."

"Where's Casey?" Chuck inquired as he noticed that the burly NSA agent wasn't present.

"Stud Muffin?" Serena laughed as both Ellie and Devon's eyes widened in astonishment and Chuck coughed to hide his laughter. "Oh…I left him back at his place. Poor boy was just too tuckered out."

"Hope you didn't wear him out completely, cousin." Tabitha quipped as her lips turned up in an evil grin. "I've got plans for him for later."

"Don't worry, Cuz." Serena chuckled, "I made sure to leave plenty in the tank for you."

"Wait a minute!" Devon interjected, "You mean you two are…"

"With Casey!" Ellie exclaimed. "Chuck?"

A red-faced Chuck responded as he tried to blend into the furniture. "The best thing to do, Ellie, when Tabitha and Serena get like this, is to just go with the flow."

"Smart man." Serena grinned as she blew the young computer nerd a kiss.

"Well…since you two are part of the neighborhood now, why don't you come to the Halloween party this weekend?" Devon pleaded, extending an invitation.

"I don't know…" Tabitha demurred, "We normally don't do Halloween…"

"Yeah." Serena agreed, "It's not exactly our favorite holiday."

"Oh…come on!" Chuck exclaimed, adding his entreaties. "It'll be fun! You two get to dress up in costumes…"

"You might even get to see Chuck and Morgan do their sandworm bit…" Ellie added, giving her brother a look of concern.

"I don't know about that." Chuck replied in a somber tone, "Things between me and Morgan haven't been that good recently."

Sensing the probable reason behind the strain between the two old friends, Tabitha proposed, "I tell you what, Chuck—Serena and I will go to the party if you show up with Morgan in that sandworm costume of yours." Turning to her cousin, the blonde witch flashed her sweetest smile, "And Cuz…this'll give you a chance to break out that mini you haven't worn in ages and do your hair up the way it used to be." Her smile turning into a chuckle, she quipped, "You can even bring your guitar. Maybe you'll get a chance to sing."

"Awesome!" Devon exclaimed as the faintest hint of jealousy crossed Ellie's features. "You sing."

"She's good." Tabitha declared. "I used to love it when she played for me. Just wait 'til you hear her."

"I remember you telling me she played for you when you were a baby." Chuck teased in a low whisper that only the blonde witch could hear.

"Hush you." Tabitha whispered back flirtatiously as she swatted at the curly haired man standing next to her

"Oh…all right, Cuz." Serena relented. "You know I can't pass up a chance to perform before an audience. But I better see Cutie and the shmuck in that worm costume."

"It's a deal." Chuck agreed as the two witches said their goodbyes. His good cheer vanishing, he vowed, "I'll talk to Morgan at the store tomorrow and try to patch things up with him."

"Good." Ellie nodded her head approvingly.

"We need to get back and start packing." Tabitha declared as Devon interrupted.

"If you two need help moving…"

"We got it covered." The blonde witch replied, "But thanks anyway."

"Well…" Ellie said as the pair departed, "We'll see you later and welcome to the neighborhood."

"I'm not sure about those two." Ellie remarked in a low whisper as the two witches walked away. "There's something odd about them, but I just can't put my finger on it."

"They seem like awesomely fun girls to me." Devon said, shrugging his shoulders and then teased, "Besides…weren't you complaining about this place getting boring?"

Tabitha entered the Buy More with a specific destination in mind, but, when she spied the Nerd Corral, couldn't spot her quarry. Spotting a strange looking Asian man dressed in a child's cowboy costume and carrying what were obviously toy six-shooters, she shook her head as she laughed. Approaching the strange man, she cleared her throat, "Hello…can you help me?"

Seeing the attractive blonde potential customer, Harry Tang's eyes lit up, "Of course!" He grinned unctuously, "We have a sale on large screen plasma TVs over here…"

"No…" Tabitha shook her head, "I just need to find someone…can you tell me where Chuck is?"'

"No." Harry's whole demeanor suddenly transformed at the mention of his rival's name. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Then maybe you can direct me to Morgan Grimes?" Tabitha prompted, desiring only to get away from the little troll she was talking to before she gave in to her initial impulse to turn him into a vacuum cleaner.

"He's with…" Tabitha then spied her target walking the aisles.

"Never mind." The youthful blonde interrupted, "I found him." Quickly striding off, the witch called out once she was close enough, "Morgan? Morgan Grimes?"

"Uhhh…" Morgan stammered as he saw the pretty woman approaching him. Then recognizing her as one of the girls who were involved with Casey, he stammered, "Hello…Casey's on his break now…I can get him if you want."

"I'll catch Stud Muffin later." Tabitha smirked, "You're the man I'm looking for right now." Grabbing the bearded young man by his arm, she tugged at it as she led him to the viewing room, "Come with me. We need to talk."

Watching from her vantage point at the Nerd Corral as the blonde witch practically dragged Morgan away, Anna Wu clenched her teeth as she silently seethed, barely hearing Fred's muttered statement.

"I've seen her before."

"Of course you have." Lester replied, "Just a few days ago."

"Yeah." Anna sneered, "She's one of Casey's sluts along with that black-haired hussy."

"No." Fred shook his head as he tried to recall memories lost in a haze of drugs, alcohol, and time, "I saw her once…a long time ago…I can't remember when but I know it's her…"

"Come on, Fred…" Lester urged, lowering his voice to a whisper so that Anna couldn't hear, "I've perfected boob cam."

"Okay." Fred muttered as he allowed himself to be led away, his eyes looking back to the blonde woman walking away from him as his mind tried in vain to place a name, date, and place with the face.

"What's this all about?" Morgan asked as Tabitha ushered him into the viewing room.

"We're going together to the Halloween party at the Bartowskis." Tabitha declared.

"Wait…aren't you involved with Casey?" Morgan gulped as he looked up at the blonde woman standing before him. "No offense, but I don't exactly like the idea of walking around with a perpetual wedgie."

"What gives you the idea that anything's going to happen between us?" Tabitha chuckled. Then, seeing the crestfallen look on the young man's face, she sighed, "Look…I'm sorry…that came out wrong. You're a nice guy—you remind me of someone I went out with once a long time ago. Also…don't worry about John. Serena will be keeping him occupied at the party."

"Ummm…not to look a gift babe in the mouth or anything…" Morgan stammered, "But…why?"

"One…I want to see you guys in that sandworm costume of yours…"

"Don't tell me you're a Dune fan?" Morgan exclaimed in an excited voice.

"I must not fear." Tabitha recited from memory. "Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me." Her smile returning, she remarked, "That's actually good advice for getting through a lot of situations."

"Damn." Morgan exhaled, visibly impressed at the attractive blonde's display of her nerd credentials. "So…" He asked, "What are the other reasons?"

"Two." The blonde witch smirked, "I wanna watch Serena perform. She's a helluva good singer and guitar player and she doesn't play enough. I got her to promise to perform if you and Chuck wear your sandworm costume. And three…you're really not such a bad guy to hang out with." She shrugged her shoulders, "I've gone out with a lot worse."

"Gee thanks." Morgan groaned, "That's really a ringing endorsement." He shook his head, "I can't believe I'm saying this…I mean…you're drop-dead gorgeous, but…no thanks. I'm not looking for a pity date."

"Sorry. I put my foot in my mouth again." Tabitha apologized, "Look. This isn't a pity date—I don't do those. If you don't want to go with me…that's fine. I'm not going to slip you a love potion or twist your arm or anything like that. I just figured that I'd give Serena a chance to spend some more time with Stud Muffin—to be brutally honest, he's more her type than mine anyway, and…like I said…from what I've seen of you, you're a nice guy; and I thought we might have some fun. So…you wanna go with me or not?"

Morgan replied blushing, "Okay…But…what if Chuck doesn't show up? I mean…every time me or Ellie have asked him to do anything with us, he's off with Sarah."

Her expression now one of sympathy, Tabitha responded, "Don't worry about it. Look…" She sighed, "It's normal when couples start going out for them to get lost in each other and forget the rest of the world exists. And…" She smirked as she playfully punched the man next to her in the shoulder, "It's natural for you to feel a little…or a lot…excluded. But, don't worry. You're always going to be his best friend. Believe me…he'll be there. So…" She smirked, "Do we have a date?"

"I guess we do." Morgan blushed.

"Great." Tabitha smiled, "Let's go back to your friends and you can write down your address for me and I'll pick you up at seven."

Returning to the Nerd Corral, Morgan jotted down his address on the back of a business card and handed it to Tabitha.

"Thanks." The lovely blonde responded as she gave the surprised store clerk a kiss on his cheek, "Pick you up at seven on Saturday. Bye!"

"Uhhh…what just happened?" Fred exclaimed as he and the other Nerds watched the young witch stride away.

"I'm going with Tabitha to Chuck's sister's party." Morgan responded with a longing sigh as Anna, quietly simmering, watched.

"You lucky dog." Fred declared, clasping the other man's shoulder with his hand.

"First Chuck…then Casey…and now you, Grimes, land hot chicks." Lester shook his head in disbelief "How do the three of you do it?"

"Believe me…" Morgan shook his head, "I have no idea."

"I'll get it, Mom!" Morgan called out as he heard the rapping at the front.

"You'll do no such thing!" Bolonia Garcia Bougainvillea Grimes Tucker shouted back, "I want to meet your new girlfriend!"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Morgan exclaimed as he raced his mother to the door only to arrive as she was about to open the door. "She's a friend of Chuck's."

"And she's going out with my boy.' Bolonia declared as she opened the door.

"Hello." Tabitha, wearing a silver miniskirt with a wide silver and black trimmed belt and horizontally striped top and wearing a sixties mod hat, her blonde hair long and flowing free.

"Wow…Tabitha…some costume." Morgan gasped

"Oh…this?" Tabitha grinned, "We're all doing sixties looks. Just wait until you see what Serena's wearing and what she's going to make John wear." She then revealed a garment bag. "Here's your outfit. Get changed."

Hearing a throat clearing, Morgan blushed, "Ummm…Tabitha…this is my Mom…Mom…this is Tabitha."

"Hello…" Tabitha grinned as the woman standing before her gave her an appraising look.

"Hmmm…have I seen you somewhere before?" Bolonia inquired.

"I don't think so." Tabitha replied, "Although…it's always possible we might have run into each other somewhere or other. Do you go to McElhanney's pub?

"Sometimes." Bolonia responded with a slight smile, "I guess that's where I've seen you." Ushering her guest into the house, she prompted her son, "Why don't you go get into your costume Morgan, while me and your guest talk. Come in, my dear…" She smiled, "So…tell me…where did you and my Morgan meet?"

"Damn." Tabitha chuckled as she and Morgan made their way to her car, "It's been a long time since I've gotten a grilling from a suspicious mother."

"I'm sorry about that." Morgan apologized as he tugged at the collar of his Nehru jacket. "I can't believe they actually wore outfits like this."

"That's why they only wore them for a couple of years." Tabitha giggled as they reached her Corvette. "You should see what Serena's chosen for Casey. Here we are. Get in."

"Wow." Morgan whistled appreciatively as he eyed the antique sports car. "That's yours?"

"Yep." Tabitha grinned as she got into the driver's seat, "That's my baby. Now…you coming along or not?"

"I'm coming." Morgan laughed as he got in the car and then pinched himself after he fastened his seat belt.

"What did you do that for?" Tabitha asked as she started the engine.

"I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a dream." Morgan responded as the sped off.

"You look absolutely smashing, Darling." Serena grinned as she adjusted Casey's outfit. "That Nehru jacket is you!"

"I look stupid." Casey grumbled as he fingered the collar of his shirt. "Why couldn't I just wear a suit and tie. It was good enough for Don Draper."

"Yeah…but you're not some boring ad exec with grabby hands. Had enough of those back when I was working at McMann-Tate ages ago." Serena pouted.

"You were a secretary at an ad agency." Casey chuckled, "When did that happen?"

"Long story." Serena replied with a sad smile, "It was just after Tabby's father died and Sammie…disappeared. I'd just gotten custody of her and…" She brushed away a tear, "I'll tell you about it later…okay, Stud Muffin."

Nodding his head in sympathy as ghosts from his own past resurfaced, John tenderly replied, "Okay, Hot Stuff. Whenever you're ready."

"Thanks." Serena, wearing the same gold mini-dress and gold turban outfit that she had worn at the Cosmic Cotillion decades ago, along with a heart shaped tattoo on her cheek just under her eye, smiled warmly at her boyfriend. Then, with a flourish, she called out, "Guitar!" as her guitar appeared in her hands. "Come on, Stud Muffin—I'm ready to party!"

"I sang this song a long time ago and it's still one of my favorites." Serena with a big smile on her lips told her audience as she prepared to play. "It's called, _I'll Blow you a Kiss in the Wind_."

"All right!" Tabitha exclaimed as Serena began to sing. "This is one of her best!"

"Damn…she's good." Morgan gasped as Ellie and Devon, along with others, began dancing to the music.

"So…" Tabitha grinned, "What are you doing standing around for? Let's dance!" The blonde witch urged as she grabbed her reluctant companion by the hand and dragged him to the dance area.

" _So I'm gonna blow you a kiss in the wiiiind…"_

"Who's singing?" Sarah asked her cover boyfriend as she snapped the selfie from her cell phone.

"I think that's Serena." Chuck exclaimed, "I wonder where she dug that song up?"

" _And when it reaches your lips my dear…you're gonna smile and feel me oh so near…_ "

"She was probably at the concert when it was first sung!" Sarah laughed. Then, as the lyrics sunk in, she glanced nervously at the young man standing next to her, quickly looking away once she saw that he was looking at her.

" _Oh! Oh my goodness…I miss you and I want you so much…_ "

Feeling the heat, Sarah grabbed Chuck by the hand, "Come on…let's get out with the others!" She quickly urged before giving in to her desire to hungrily kiss the man with her.

Tapping his toes to the rhythm, a smile crossed Casey's lips as he heard his girlfriend sing. For tonight…at least…he decided that duty and national security could wait. He was going to have fun.

" _Wherever you are tonight…I got a feeling you look outta sight…So I'm gonna blow…you a kiss…in the wind…_ "

Finishing her song with a flourish, Serena bowed before her applauding audience, "So…how'd you like it?" She called out with glee as the audience cheered.

"So…Stud Muffin?" Serena asked as she approached Casey. "You like?"

Not saying a word, the burly spy took his lover in his arms and kissed her, ignoring the applauding audience as he did so.

"I guess you liked it." An out of breath Serena gasped and then smirked as she propositioned in a low voice, "Just wait until I get you alone tonight."

"You know.." Morgan told his date as the pair made their way to the kitchen counter, "You were right…I am having fun."

"Good." Tabitha replied with a smile, and then gestured to where Chuck was standing next to Sarah, "Come on…I wanna see it. Serena did her bit, now it's your turn…" She smirked, "You promised!" And then she began to call out, her cry quickly joined by the others in the room, "Sandworm! Sandworm! Sandworm!"

 _The Day After the Party_

"The intelligence data on those arms shipments has been quite helpful." Beckman stated over the video-conference link set up in Sarah's apartment.

"We would have liked more information on those two DEO agents though." Graham stated with a frown on his face. "Our knowledge of the DEO is sketchy enough as it is. Information on how they conduct operations and any insights as to their agents would be most helpful."

"Not much to say." Casey replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "They're professionals and did their jobs."

"Casey's right." Sarah concurred. "However…" She said as she realized that her superiors would not be happy if they didn't get at least a nugget of information, "…they are rather…chaotic…in how they approach missions."

"Yeah." Casey, picking up on his partner's intentions, agreed. "They do have a tendency to throw away the rule book when it doesn't suit them."

"Garson always did like to collect troublemakers and rules breakers." Beckman allowed herself a brief chuckle. "So…you have no problems working with them?"

"None at all." Casey declared as Sarah nodded her head in agreement. "The mission went smoothly. We achieved our objectives…"

"Speaking of which…" Graham interjected, "Did either of you get a look at that book?"

"No." Sarah replied, "There wasn't time. The DEO agents turned it in to their superiors almost immediately."

"That's unfortunate." The general flatly stated. "Whatever's in it could be vital to national security."

"Well…the DEO has it so…" Sarah began only to be interrupted by her superior.

"They've already disappeared it along with all the other items they've recovered over the years." Graham declared with a grimace. "If we could get access to wherever the DEO stores their artifacts…they could change the balance of power in the world forever. We would never have to worry about anyone or anything threatening this country ever again."

"Or we would unleash something that would destroy everything and everyone." Sarah muttered under her breath.

"Agent Walker?" General Beckman exclaimed with raised eyebrows, "You had something to say?"

"No, General." Sarah replied.

"And the Intersect? Was it of any use?" Graham inquired.

"Yes." Sarah nodded her head, "Chuck was most helpful."

"Good." Beckman nodded her head, adding, "Work is progressing smoothly on the beta for the new Intersect. We anticipate that we can dispense with the services of Mr. Bartowski soon."

Nodding her head, Sarah responded, "He'll be glad to hear that."

"Right." Beckman replied as she gave Casey a quick glance, "It won't be long until we can close out the file on Chuck Bartowski. If there's nothing else?"

"No Ma'am." A stoic Casey responded.

"Good. Carry on."

As the screen went blank, Sarah turned to her partner. "What was that all about, Casey? That look Beckman gave you? What's going on?"

Maintaining a stoic exterior while a war waged inside him, Casey replied with a shake of his head, "Nothing."

"The tome is safe in the Vault." Garson declared to the two women seated on the other side of the desk from him. "Thank you for securing it." Shaking his head, the DEO director remarked, "I don't even want to think about the consequences if Timur had gotten his hands on it." Pausing for a moment as he sipped the Kristal champagne that Serena had conjured up for the three of them, he inquired, "So…what's your take on your new partners?"

"They did a good job." Tabitha declared as Serena nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah…I had my doubts about Cutie and the Ice Queen at first, but they came through where it counted, and Stud Muffin was very good." The raven-haired witch declared with a throaty laugh. "They're keeping our secret. I think we can work with them."

"Good." Garson nodded his head. "Because Timur isn't going away and there are plenty of other potential problems on the horizon. What about Bartowski? Does he have potential?"

"Yeah." Tabitha replied. "His own talents and abilities make him worth bringing into the family. He doesn't need the Intersect to make a contribution. What worries me though is what Beckman and Graham will do to him once he's served his purpose."

"Tabby's right." Serena agreed. "You know all about my story, Fuzzy. Fifty years ago…I wouldn't have given a shit about what happened to any normal—except maybe Darrin—and then only because of Sammie and Tabby. But since then…well since stuff happened…that's changed. I've changed. What I'm trying to say is that Cutie's a good guy and I don't trust Stone Face or Prune Face. Wouldn't surprise me if they've already given the hit order."

"They have." Garson confirmed in a grave voice. "I found out through my sources that once the new Intersect clears its beta test, Casey's been given orders to terminate Chuck." He then fixed his two agents in his gaze, "Do you think he'd carry out those orders?"

"You know…" Serena said in a soft voice, "I don't know. I'd like to think John wouldn't cause I'm getting to really like him…that he'd get a sudden case of conscience kinda like what I did…but…" She shook here head, "I just can't tell you."

"I'd like to think that John and Sarah would tell their bosses where they could go too." Tabitha replied with a grim expression on her face, "But…like Serena…I can't give you an honest answer one way of the other. I do know one thing—that we need to be ready to protect Chuck if either or both of them turn on him. I like him and I'm not going to let people he trusts in and in Sarah's case I think something more hurt him. Not without doing something really…really…drastic and permanent to them. Like sending them back to the Big Bang sorta permanent."

"Do what you have to do to protect him." Garson instructed, "And if that means giving either or both of his handlers a one way trip to the beginning or the end of the universe, then bon voyage to them."

"Got it, Fuzzy!" Serena grinned as she and Tabitha rose from their chairs. "Toodles!" Then, as they popped out, Director Garson's lips turned up in a slight grin as he remembered his first encounter with a certain dark-haired witch long ago and in a faraway place.

 _Next episode: Flashbacks_

 _I borrowed a few lines from the Boyce and Hart song "I'll Blow you a Kiss in the Wind" that Elizabeth Montgomery sung as Serena in a classic Bewitched episode_.


	6. Chapter 6

She's Cast a Spell on You

Chapter 6 "Flashbacks"

"Thanks for the help moving our stuff over, guys!" Tabitha smiled as she handed out beers to the neighbors and friends gathered to help the two witches in their move from their penthouse to their new apartment at Echo Park.

"Bet you're glad you changed your mind now about letting us help." Morgan joked as Tabitha playfully punched his shoulder.

"Yeah." The blonde witch agreed as she directed Ellie, carrying a box marked stuffed animals, to her room. "I didn't realize we had so much stuff."

"You already moved over the hot and spooky stuff…right?" Casey whispered to Serena.

The dark-haired witch nodded her head, "Yeah. Anything dangerous is safely tucked away. There's nothing magical in this stuff."

"Chuck wasn't kidding about your toy collection, Tabitha." Ellie exclaimed, "I don't think I've seen as many boxes filled with toys and stuffed animals."

"Gotta have a hobby." Tabitha chuckled as Ellie joined in the laughter.

"So…what's your hobby, Serena?" Ellie asked, trying to get to know the other cousin.

Nuzzling up next to Casey, Serena leered, "Take three guesses."

"You walked into that, Sis." Chuck teased as he and Sarah came in with boxes marked books and dishes.

"Yeah…I guess I did." Ellie chuckled as she reached for a beer.

Opening up the box marked photos, Tabitha smiled at the picture she had taken out. "Hey, Serena…look!"

"Cotton-top and Louise." Serena grinned as the others gathered round to look.

"Who are they?" Devon inquired as he looked on at the picture of a tall man with white curly-hair and a mustache and a moderately attractive dark haired woman.

"Larry and Louise Tate." Tabitha replied with a note of fondness to her voice. "They were friends of my family…"

"They passed on a few years ago." Serena remarked sadly. "I liked old Cotton-top. He was a fun guy."

"Wasn't he a partner in McMann-Tate?" Morgan inquired, further elaborating, "They were big from the fifties through the seventies but went out of business in the eighties."

"Yeah." Tabitha nodded her head in agreement, "Larry retired and his son wasn't really interested in continuing the business. Once Howard McMann stepped down…the writing was on the wall. The times were changing and they just couldn't compete."

"That's how it goes." Casey remarked. "The strong and adaptable survive."

Feeling a tingle running up and down her spine, Tabitha turned to Serena who nodded her head in confirmation.

"Something wrong?" Casey whispered to Serena, his senses suddenly keyed up by the two witch's reactions.

"Maybe." Serena whispered back. "Family's coming."

"Should we be concerned?"

"Depends…" Serena answered as the doorbell rang, "…on who it is."

As she answered the door, a big grin appeared on Tabitha's face as she called out in greeting, "Uncle Arthur!"

Sighing in relief, Serena muttered to her boyfriend, "He's safe…just a little…well…you'll see…" Her lips turned up in a mischievous grin, "Just don't be the first one to shake his hand. Let Captain Awesome or Morgan have that honor."

"Hi there!" A man wearing a suit and with a cheerful look on his face came into the apartment.

"Hello." Devon grinned as he held out his hand, "You must be Tabitha's uncle."

"Sure am." Arthur replied with a smirk on his face as he took Devon's hand and activated the hidden joy buzzer.

"Oww!" Devon cried out as he quickly withdrew his hand and shook it. "That was a helluva jolt!"

"Wait…" Serena whispered to Casey, "There's more…"

"Just a little joke." Arthur said with a smile as he again extended his hand. "See…no buzzer!"

"Okay…" A now wary Devon once again took the man's hand, only to find that, as soon as he had grasped it, that he was holding on to an artificial hand with a shirt sleeve hanging off of it.

"I thought you needed a hand!" Arthur joked as Devon looked down mystified at the fake hand.

"Are his jokes always this bad?" Chuck whispered to Tabitha.

"Usually they're worse." Tabitha admitted with a crooked grin as she approached her uncle. "Uncle Arthur? What brings you over?"

"I heard my two favorite girls were moving and wanted to bring you a house-warming present." Arthur declared as he pulled out a bottle of champagne from behind his back. "Don't worry…" He grinned as he noticed the wary glances coming from both Tabitha and Serena, "It's the real thing. Now…why don't you girls break out the glasses and we can get this party started."

"Sure." Tabitha said as she made her way to the glasses, soon to be joined by her uncle who, seeing the picture of baby Tabitha with her mother and father, lowered his voice, "You were a beautiful baby, you know that, don't you? And your mother was the greatest."

"I had a wonderful daddy too." Tabitha whispered back.

"Yeah." The clownish uncle acknowledged, "He was a good man and, I have to admit, he had to really love Samantha and you kids to put up with all the stuff we did to him. So…" Arthur asked as he poured the champagne into the glasses, "Who all here is in the loop and who isn't?"

"The man next to Serena…" Tabitha said gesturing with a head nod towards Casey, "…and the couple over there…" She added, once again tilting her head towards Chuck and Sarah, "…are all in the know. The others aren't and we're trying to keep it that way."

"Good idea." Arthur acknowledged before requesting, "Can you get rid of the others after the champagne? We need to talk."

"I'll take care of it." Tabitha replied as she placed the champagne glasses on a tray and then passed the tray to everyone. Lifting her glass, she smiled as she toasted, "Thanks to all of you for making us feel welcome in the neighborhood." After everyone had drank their glasses, she allowed a few minutes for idle conversation before making a production of yawning. "I'm sorry, but it's been a long day." She apologized as Serena picked up on the hint and yawned also.

"I know what you mean, Cuz." She said as she pulled on Casey's sleeve and shook her head when he made ready to leave. She then glanced towards Chuck and Sarah and gave a slight head nod.

Nodding his head slightly in understanding, Casey called out, "Sarah…Chuck…can you come over here?"

"Sure." Chuck responded as he disengaged from Morgan. Approaching, he inquired in a low voice, "We picked up on the hint that you all wanted to be alone with your uncle and were about to leave…"

"He wants you all to stay." Serena replied, "You know the family business, so it's safe to talk in front of you anyway and if it's about what I think it is, you have every right to be here as it concerns you."

As soon as the door had closed safely behind the last of their departing guests, Tabitha turned to her uncle, "Okay, Uncle Arthur…what's up?"

"Other than the space station?" The clown quipped and then frowned as no one laughed, "Tough room." Taking a deep breath, he replied with a rare serious look on his face, "What do you think? You've got some people pretty angry because a normal offed Awful Allie."

"It was her or us!" Sarah snarled angrily, "I wasn't about to let her kill Tabitha and Chuck."

"Oh…I'm not angry at you!" Arthur threw his hands up in an appeasing gesture. "For what it's worth, if it were just me, I'd give you a free wish—anything…or anyone…you want. Allie was a spoiled rotten brat as a kid and grew up to be a spoiled rotten monster. But…" He cautioned, "You have made a very powerful enemy…so whatever you do, Missy…don't ever…ever…take that enchanted ring my girls gave you off. It's probably the only thing keeping you from being changed into a toad or worse."

"Who did she get mad other than Philippe and maybe Timur?" Serena inquired and then understanding dawning, she took a deep breath as she swore, "Oh shit!"

"Right." Arthur nodded his head, "Allie's father was Juke…you remember him? And you know who his mother is…"

"Yeah." Serena grumbled and then explained to the humans in the room, "Carlotta is a very…very…powerful witch. She and Sammie's mother Endora arranged a marriage between Sammie and her son Juke when they were both children. Hey…don't look at me that way!" Serena exclaimed as she shook her head, "That's the way they did things back then. Well…anyway…after Sammie got married to Darrin, Carlotta came to collect on the betrothal with Juke and tried to force Sammie to get divorced from Darrin. Sammie somehow managed to get Carlotta, the poster child for domineering mothers, to call off the marriage with Juke…"

"Sammie was always good at working people." Uncle Arthur interrupted with a note of admiration in his voice for his missing niece.

"Yeah…" Serena agreed, "Sammie knew people. Anyway…" She said, finishing her story, "After Sammie managed to get the marriage called off, Juke began chasing after me for a while until he finally got the hint after I dumped a mountain of garbage on him. The last I heard, he settled down with Elspeth and had Allie…"

"Yep." Arthur concurred, picking up the narrative. "When the inevitable happened and the marriage fell apart, Carlotta swept in and took custody of Allie, spoiling her rotten and turning her into the monster she was until you…" His gaze then turned to Sarah, "…planted a bullet in her brain pan."

"So…it's not Juke who's causing the problems…" Tabitha ventured.

"It's Carlotta." Arthur confirmed. "Maurice and Endora are both doing damage control—trying to make sure she doesn't make things worse by coming down here and starting a war between us and normals that in the end we can't win." He then explained to the humans, "It's simple math. There are seven billion of you and only a few thousand of us. If humans decide to take the gloves off—we're screwed." Turning his attention to his girls, Arthur further pointed out, "I know you two have issues with Endora and Maurice, and you've got good reason, but they are trying their best to hold it all together after the Witches Council fell apart."

"We understand, Uncle Arthur." Tabitha replied.

"Thank you." Arthur smiled back at his two favorite witches and then cautioned them, "Expect a visit from your brother, Tabby. He's now pretty much Maurice's mouthpiece. I suspect it will be a strongly worded reprimand from the old man and orders for you to quote, 'keep your mortals under control…' unquote."

"Who the hell does this bastard think he is?" John growled as his hand went instinctively to the pistol concealed behind his back.

"Hey…big guy…" Arthur replied, again taking an appeasing stance, "Don't blame me! I'm just here to see my two favorite girls and give you all some advance notice on what's going on so you don't get bushwhacked."

"And we thank you for it, Uncle Arthur." Tabitha replied with a smile as Serena nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah…" Chuck chimed in, "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome, young man." Arthur smiled back, "And you…" His smile now replaced by a concerned expression as he turned his gaze back to Sarah, "…I'm not kidding…be careful, young lady. I owe you one for saving Tabby. Losing Sammie was a bad enough heartbreak to me." He declared as he addressed the two women he had come to regard as being his daughters, "I don't even want to think about losing either of you two. Since Clara and Sammie left, you're pretty much the only family I've got that I can stand being with for an extended period of time."

"We love you too, Uncle Arthur and you're pretty much all we have left now too since none of the others will have anything to do with us." Tabitha said as she and Serena each kissed their uncle on his cheeks.

He shook his head somberly, "It hasn't been the same since your father died and Sammie disappeared. And what the Witches Council tried to do to you, Serena, because you wouldn't go along with their orders, and then Endora and Maurice siding with them…total bullshit!"

"That day Darrin died…" Serena shook her head as she brushed back a tear, "It's been almost fifty years, and it still seems like yesterday for me."

 _ **1972 La Guardia Airport**_

 _Chuck, Casey, and Sarah looked about and gasped as they found themselves with Arthur, Serena, and Tabitha standing in the middle of an airport terminal. Only, there were no LED flat screens displaying the information for departing and arriving flights, nor were the tell-tale sounds of CNN news playing in the background. Instead, they saw people sitting down on chairs, talking and smoking, people watching television from TV chairs that charged a quarter a half-hour, men, mostly wearing business suits and women wearing everything from mini-dresses to more conservative knee-length A-frame midis. Sarah's eyes widened as she saw a Hare Krishna with shaved head accost a rapidly walking businessman carrying an attaché case._

 _Looking up, Chuck saw flight information being displayed on a mechanical display above a life insurance kiosk where a few passengers had gathered to drop their coins in exchange for the temporary flight insurance._

" _Have we…have we traveled back in time?" Chuck inquired as he took in all the sights and sounds of the airport._

" _No." Serena shook her head. "We're in 'memory-vision…'"_

" _Patent pending." Arthur joked as Tabitha playfully hushed him._

" _Memory-vision?" Sarah interjected._

" _It's a way for you to experience my memories." Serena explained, "We're not actually in the past—these are memories of what happened. Mine…and those around us."_

" _Okay…I think I get it." Chuck nodded his head and then noticed a woman with dark-hair and wearing a minidress standing by herself. "Is that you?"_

" _Yeah." Serena nodded her head. "That's me. I had just left the airplane where I met Tabitha from this time and am getting ready to break the news to Samantha about Darrin…"_

" _I time-traveled back to see my father one last time." Tabitha explained. "We found the bomb in the baggage compartment."_

" _Why didn't you just blink or twitch it away?" Casey inquired. "Or whatever it is that you two do?"_

" _Couldn't." Serena glumly replied as she shook her head. "Fixed point in time."_

" _Certain things in the timeline can be changed." Tabitha explained, "And certain things can't. Those things that can't be changed are called fixed points."_

" _Like Pearl Harbor." Casey concluded, nodding his head in understanding. "If you were to change that World War Two would have come out different."_

" _Right." Serena affirmed. "Some things have to happen no matter how bad they are. It's fate or destiny or whatever you want to call it. The bomb on that airplane went off, destroying it and everyone on board the plane—including Darrin. There's nothing we can do to change that." Watching her past self's actions, Serena declared, "I'm working up the courage to go to Samantha now."_

Looking up at the schedule of arriving and departing flights, the raven-haired witch immediately spotted the one for TWA Flight 83 still being listed as on time. "They must not have gotten the news yet." Serena muttered softly as she composed herself for the emotional meltdown she knew was just on the horizon. Switching her outfit to a mini-dress with muted colors, and cuffs and neck lined with black fur, instead of her usual garishly loud outfit, Serena also decided to forego her usual lavish display of jewelry and facial tattoo and dramatic makeup in favor of keeping it simple. Taking a deep breath, the dark-haired witch slowly and deliberately began making her way to the lounge where those waiting for arriving flights gathered.

Arriving at the lounge earlier, Samantha Stephens, cradling a sleeping Adam in her arms as Tabitha dutifully walked behind her, smiled broadly as she saw two familiar figures sitting at the bar. The man, middle-aged with white hair cut in a flattop, sat nursing a drink as he smoked a cigarette next to a woman, also middle-aged, but with dark-hair and dressed in a stylish, yet conservative dress, who was also enjoying a cigarette as she slowly sipped her drink.

"Larry! Louise!" Samantha called out.

"Samantha!" Louise responded, rising to her feet to greet the blonde mother. "Bet you're looking forward to Darrin getting back home."

"Oh yes!" Samantha replied as she gingerly laid Adam down on a bench, sitting down next to him as Tabitha sat down on the floor at her feet. Looking up at the schedule, her lips turned up in a smile, "Well…looks like it's still scheduled to arrive on time."

"No way our boy's going to be late for Thanksgiving dinner." Larry grinned as he joined the others, his glass of scotch still in his hands. His smile broadened as he patted his coat pocket, "Got a little something here for him—a bonus for landing the Petrie account. He just made all our Christmases with that deal."

"I'm sure he'll be glad to hear that." Samantha replied as the status of TWA Flight 83 was suddenly changed from 'On Time' to 'Delayed'. "I wonder what's going on?" Samantha mused

"I'm sure it's nothing more than a headwind, Sam. Or maybe it got bumped back into a holding pattern because of a priority flight or something like that." Larry suggested.

"You're probably right." Samantha agreed as she spotted a woman approaching. "I wonder what she's doing here?" The blonde witch muttered under her breath as she at once recognized her cousin.

" _She's your cousin?" Casey inquired, pointing to his lover's blonde twin._

" _Yeah." Serena nodded her head. "That's Sammie."_

" _She looks beautiful, doesn't she?" Arthur declared with a sad smile on his face. "And so innocent. She doesn't even know that in a few moments her entire world is going to come crashing down around her."_

" _And I'm the one who brought it down." Serena remarked morosely._

" _No, you didn't, Hot Stuff." Casey interjected, giving his lover's hand a squeeze. "You did what someone who loved her cousin would do—you had bad news that she had to know and wanted to make sure it came from someone she loved and not through a TV screen or a radio announcement."_

" _Mom." Tabitha choked back a sob as Chuck took her hand, lending her his support._

" _That must be you." Chuck said as he glanced down at the blonde-haired little girl on the floor playing with a stuffed animal. "I see that you got your pony with you."_

" _Yeah." Tabitha's lips turned up in a sad smile. "I never went anywhere without my horsey."_

" _Who's the other couple?" Sarah asked._

" _Cotton-Top…Larry Tate…and his wife, Louise." Serena replied with a fond grin. "Cotton Top was always a gas."_

" _Yeah…Larry was always good for a gag." Arthur said with a smirk. "Got him good with a dribble glass once." Seeing the looks the normal humans were giving him, he rolled his eyes, "Hey…don't knock the old standards. They're classics for a reason, you know."_

" _He was Dad's boss." Tabitha quickly interrupted, "And I guess you could say best friend…more or less…that is when Uncle Larry wasn't firing him or Daddy wasn't quitting because of a fight he had with Larry—usually over a client and usually because Grandma Endora had cast a spell of some sort or other. And Louise was a good friend of Mom's"_

" _Your cousin sounds like she was a helluva woman." Casey remarked and then gave his lover a quick hug, "She'd have to be to be able to keep up with a hottie like you."_

" _For that…" Serena chuckled as she gave the big man next to her a quick kiss, "You get a special treat later on tonight." Her laughter faded as she recalled what happened next. "Now it starts to get bad."_

" _How bad?" Chuck asked as he again squeezed Tabitha's hand._

" _Real bad." Serena replied in a soft voice as the scene unfolded before them._

"Serena." Larry leered as Louise politely nodded her head at her friend's cousin.

"Hey, Cotton-top." Serena automatically responded, although without her usual flirtatiousness. Ignoring the dark-haired woman standing next to Larry, the dark-haired witch focused all her attention on her cousin. "Sam…we need to talk privately. Now."

Now noticing her cousin's agitated stance and unusually serious demeanor, Samantha replied, "Okay…" Turning to her friend, she requested, "Louise? Can you look after the kids for a bit? Adam's asleep and Tabitha will probably be dropping off shortly. I shouldn't be long."

"No problem at all, Samantha." Louise answered back with a smile. "Take as much time as you need. My other kid…" She rolled her eyes as she glanced at her husband, "Has already made his way back to the bar."

"Thanks, Louise." Samantha replied as she grabbed her cousin by the arm and practically dragged her to the side where the pair couldn't be overheard. "Okay, Serena…what have you gotten yourself into now? And if it's another affair with a warlock who's married to a jealous witch…so help me…I'll…"

"Sammie." Serena quickly held up her hands in a placating gesture. "It's nothing like that. I wish it were. Then this would be a helluva lot easier."

Seeing the grave look on her twin's face, Samantha's expression changed from one of irritation to one of concern, "What's wrong, Serena? This isn't like you. What happened?"

"I was flying back from Paris…" Serena recounted, "…and I passed by Darrin's plane and picked up on something…more like someone…who wasn't supposed to be there."

"Who…or what…was it?" Samantha asked as the protective wife and mother came out, "And did whatever it was hurt or do anything to my husband? Because if they did…"

"Oh no!" Serena exclaimed, "She would never have hurt Darrin."

"That's the second time in a row you've called my husband by his real name." Samantha remarked, "I can count the number of times you've done that on one hand and still have fingers left! What the hell is going on here, Serena?"

"I'm trying to tell you, Cousin!" Serena choked out between sobs, "But…it's hard."

" _I've never had to do anything like this before." Serena explained to her friends. "I mean…in five hundred years, I've seen people die…and…yeah…" She admitted, "I've caused a few people to die—but only those people who really deserved it. I've never hurt an innocent! Humiliated them? Yeah…when I was younger and well…you know. But…I never was in a situation like this. I never had to tell someone I loved that someone they loved wasn't coming back home."_

Her heart going out to her distraught double, Samantha gently hugged her. Wiping away her tears and runny mascara, the blonde witch gently guided Serena to a bench and sat her down and then sat down next to her. "It's okay. Just take your time. You were flying back from Paris and picked up on something unusual on Darrin's plane."

"Right, Sammie." Serena nodded her head as she slowly regained her composure. "I was curious about what it was, so I popped on to the plane and found her dressed as a stewardess."

"Who?" Samantha asked.

Serena then glanced at a slumbering Tabitha. "Her."

"Couldn't be Tabitha." Samantha shook her head, "She's been with me the entire time."

"Not this Tabitha." Serena replied, "The Tabitha I saw was fully grown and from the future—the twenty-first century to be exact—and she was a full-fledged witch."

"No." Samantha shook her head in disbelief. "If she were fully grown and a witch, she should know that she shouldn't be here in this time unless she was…"

"Supposed to be here." Serena finished. "I confronted her and we talked." The dark-haired witch took a deep breath and then continued, "We talked in the baggage compartment and that's where it was."

"Where what was?" Samantha asked as she felt a weight beginning to grow at the pit of her stomach.

"A bomb." Serena replied bluntly as her cousin gasped in alarm. "We couldn't get rid of it because this is a…"

"Fixed point in time." Samantha whispered as tears began to appear in her eyes. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she commanded, "Take me there."

"Are you sure, Sammie?" Serena asked, her face etched with concern.

"Yes." Samantha nodded her head. "Take me there. Now."

"All right." Serena took a deep breath and snapped her fingers. Moments later, the two witches reappeared hovering over the ocean. Looking down, Samantha gasped in horror as her eyes took in the sight of the floating debris including a TWA flight bag and cushions emblazoned with the TWA logo.

 _As his eyes took in the horrible scene before him, Chuck suddenly flashed as images flooded his mind. Gatwick Airport…a man wearing a trench coat and scarf with hat pulled low to cover his face…a suitcase with an Athens, Greece tag…"_

" _Did you just flash, Chuck?" Sarah whispered._

" _Yeah." Chuck whispered back._

" _What did you see, Chuck?" Tabitha, wiping the tears away from her eyes, asked as she looked up at the young man standing next to her._

 _He then recounted what he had seen in his recent series of visions. "And that's all I could get."_

" _It's still a helluva a lot more than what we've gotten in fifty years." Serena responded with a sigh. "Although…" She shook her head glumly, "It doesn't really help us any."_

" _Well…we know it has to do with Athens…" Chuck offered._

" _Athens was a popular destination back then." Serena shook her head, and then, after further thought, postulated, "Palestinian terrorists…left wing terrorist groups…KGB, CIA, Mossad, and other intel agencies did like to use it because security was usually pretty lax."_

" _Yeah." Casey nodded his head as he remembered his history, "The Greek government back then was pretty corrupt too—still is. So, bribing airport security back then—what there was of it—wouldn't have been any problem."_

" _It doesn't get us any closer though." Sarah shook her head ruefully, "Like Serena said, it's been fifty years and a lot has changed and I'm sure a lot of records have been destroyed."_

" _Probably." Tabitha agreed, "But it's still a starting point and that's more than what we've had before."_

"My stars…" An ashen faced Samantha exhaled as the full impact of what happened finally hit her. Serena snapped her fingers again, bringing the pair back to the airport.

"NoNoNoNoNoNo! Not my Darrin! No!" Samantha screamed out as Serena hugged her close and both Larry and Louise, their attention drawn by their friend's screams, rushed to her side, Louise carrying Adam in her arms while Larry gathered up Tabitha and carried her. As they reached their friend, they heard the news from a nearby radio.

"This is a special report from the WABC Newsroom. It has just been reported to us that TWA Flight 83 from London to New York has crashed in the Atlantic. No survivors have been reported. There is no information yet as to the reason for the crash at this time. Stay tuned to this station for further news as it becomes available. We now return you to our regular programming."

"Oh my God!" Louise gasped in shock as Larry stood motionless, as if in a daze.

"Momma?" Little Tabitha called out as she stirred to wakefulness, "Where's Daddy?"

 _That image faded to be replaced by a living room in a suburban house. "This is our old house." Tabitha explained. They saw a sobbing Samantha being comforted and held by Serena on one side of her and Louise on the other while Larry quietly fetched drinks for everyone. As the phone rang, Larry set down the tray and answered it._

"Hello? Stephens residence. No. This is Larry Tate…a friend of the family's. Oh? Mr. Stephens." Larry softened his voice tone as he spoke, "Please…let me offer my condolences. He was a very good friend of mine. No. We haven't heard anything more. All we know is that the plane exploded in the air. They've found some scattered debris—suitcases…flight bags…cushions and all…but no wreckage from the plane. Yeah…most likely it's at the bottom of the ocean where we'll never be able to recover it. We'll probably have to wait and see what the flight recorder says—if they can find it, that is. I'll let Samantha know. I sure will. Drive safely, Mr. Stephens. Goodbye."

Placing the receiver back in its cradle, Larry placed a hand on Samantha's shoulder, "That was Darrin's father. He said that he and his wife were on their way over and should be here in a few hours. He also asked about you and told me to tell you that they're thinking of you and the kids."

"How'd he sound, Larry?" Louise asked as she looked up at her husband, frowning as she noticed the lines on his face.

"Not good." The white-haired ad man shook his head somberly. "I could hear his wife in the background crying. She's taking it pretty hard—we all are. I still can't believe this is happening."

"Thank you, Larry." Samantha weakly responded, her tears once again flowing as Serena handed her a handkerchief.

"Here, Cousin." The dark-haired witch said in a gentle tone as Adam began crying. "Sounds like Adam's feeling cranky. You stay here with Louise and Larry. I'll go up and help Aunt Clara with the children."

"Thanks, Serena." Samantha managed a weak smile as the front doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Larry announced as he made his way to the door and opened it to reveal the Kravitzes, Gladys, wearing pot holders and bearing a full casserole pan in her hands said in a sad voice, "I hope you don't mind, but we brought over some turkey casserole for everyone."

"Thank you, Mrs. Kravitz." Larry replied with a smile as he ushered the neighbor couple into the living room. "Would you like a drink?"

"Just some hot tea for me." Gladys replied as she made her way to the kitchen and set the casserole pan down on the snack bar next to a tray of sandwiches.

"I'll take a whiskey on the rocks." Albert requested as he lit his pipe and joined Larry at the bar. Lowering his voice, he asked in a whisper, "How's Mrs. Stephens holding up?"

"Not well." Larry shook his head. "What's surprising to me is that we've heard from most of Darrin's relatives, but no one from Samantha's family—with the exception of her cousin and her aunt, Clara, who's been up with the kids ever since we all got home—has called or come over. I got the feeling more than once that there was some tension between Darrin and much of Sam's family, but surely they wouldn't let their dislike for Darrin keep them away from Samantha when she needs them the most!"

" _I was at the joke-off on Paramus Prime in the Lesser Magellenic Cloud at the time." Uncle Arthur confessed with a guilty look on his face, "Otherwise I'd have come a lot sooner."_

" _You couldn't have known, Uncle Arthur." Tabitha replied consolingly. "And Aunts Hagatha and Enchantra have never been that close to begin with." She then turned to the three humans, "This is when things between me and my grandparents began to go south. Even at six, I knew something was wrong because the two people I most wanted to be there weren't there." She remarked as the scenery changed to little Tabitha's bedroom where Serena's past self had just entered the room._

"H…h….h…hello, Serena." Clara stammered as she cradled Adam in her arms in a futile effort to keep the wriggling young one still.

"Looks like our young warlock's up and about." Serena smiled warmly at her aunt as she took the seat opposite her. "Hello, little guy!" The raven-haired beauty said as she playfully poked at his chest. "My but you're active. You want a toy?" Holding out her arms, she suggested to her aunt, "Why don't you let me take him, Clara? I'll put him in his playpen with some of his toys."

Setting the young toddler in the playpen, the witch turned to the little girl playing with her pony on her bed, "Hi, Tabitha! How's my favorite little witch doing?"

"Okay, Auntie Serena." Little Tabitha responded and then asked in an innocent voice, "Did Grandmama Endora send Daddy away again?"

"No, Sweetie." Serena responded as she brushed back a tear, "Not this time. Your mommy will talk to you more about it later, okay?"

"Why are you and Mommy and Aunt Clara so sad?" The little girl asked.

Lowering her head, Serena took a deep breath before responding with a sad smile, "We'll talk about it later, okay…I promise. Right now though…I think there's a little witch who's staying up way beyond her bedtime."

"Adam's still up." Tabitha protested, pointing to her brother playing with a toy car.

"Not for much longer, Sweetie." Serena replied, "He'll be joining you in dreamland shortly. Now…why don't you get in bed and your Auntie Serena will sing you a lullaby."

"Okay." Tabitha responded, doing as her Auntie Serena requested, then drifted off to sleep as Serena sang her a gentle, sweet song. Glancing back at the playpen, Serena's lips turned up in a slight grin, "Finally…they're both asleep." Shaking her head, she addressed her aunt, "They've had a rough day."

"We all have my dear." Clara answered back as she blew her nose. "I was hoping that Samantha and Darrin would have had more time together."

"That's why I don't form any close attachments to mortals." Serena declared with a grimace, "It's too painful saying goodbye."

"Oh…my dear, sweet girl…" Clara gently reproved, "You're losing out on so much when you do that. Normal people like Darrin have so much to give—all you have to do is let them give it to you."

Shrugging her shoulders, Serena responded with just a touch of bitterness in her voice, "What can a mortal give me that I can't conjure up on my own? A mink coat?" She summoned a mink coat in her hands and then just as quickly sent it back to the ether from where it came. "A villa on the Riviera?" She then snapped her fingers transporting her and Clara to a luxurious villa on the Cote d'Azur and then snapping her fingers again, brought them back. "What exactly can a mortal give me that's worth all the pain and heartache that Samantha is going through right now?"

"Well, honey…" Clara responded with a warm smile as she pointed to both of the children, "Love."

"Love?" Serena laughed out loud, quickly stifling her laughter as she saw Tabitha stir. "Love? Are you sure you're not Uncle Arthur disguised as my Aunt Clara?"

"I don't think I'm Arthur." The doddering old witch responded, shaking her head, "What do you think it was that kept Darrin here after what you all did to him and having to put up with my blundering about? His love for Samantha and those children kept him here, and Samantha's love for him gave him the hope and strength to deal with all of us."

"She always had his back." Serena noted with an amused smile.

"I might be old, dearie…" Clara declared, "…and my mind might be slipping now…" Holding up a hand, she cut off the younger witch's objections, "Yes, it is, my dear. I'm old and growing senile—I'm not stupid. We're also not immortal—no matter what Endora and the others say. I'm old…older than Endora, Maurice, or anyone else in our family. I can remember when humans got together in their first cities on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers." A slight smile crossed her features as she reminisced, "They used to worship me as the "Dawn Bringer." The ancient Greeks called me Aurora—I always liked that name—and the Romans called me Clara and that's the name that stuck for me and that's fine. Aurora's the sort of name that goes best with a young maiden anyway and it's been a long time since I've been young or a maiden."

"Would you like some tea, Aunt Clara?" Serena gently prompted when her aunt paused to cough.

"Yes, thank you, dearie." Clara responded as Serena conjured up a tea kettle and two tea cups. Pouring the tea into both cups, the younger witch encouraged, "Go, on, Clara."

"Oh, yes…where was I? Oh!" Picking up on her lost train of thought, the older witch continued, "We're not immortal dear. We just live a lot longer than normal humans—maybe too much longer. It seems that they pack more living in their short lives than we do in our millennia of existing. But…eventually…we all rejoin the continuum like my dear Occy did. One day, I'll join him." Seeing the distraught look on her niece's face, Clara took her hands in hers, "Oh…don't fret, my dear! I'm not afraid. I've lived a good life." She then shook her head, "I just wonder where Endora is?"

"I've been thinking the same thing." Serena replied. "She didn't say anything about going anywhere special. You'd think she'd want to be with Sammie now that she really needs her."

"Maybe she's waiting until the normal people leave?" Clara opined.

"Possibly." Serena allowed. "I hope she appears soon."

" _Your Aunt Clara was the Greek goddess Aurora?" Chuck exclaimed disbelievingly._

" _Yeah." Serena chuckled, "Some of the older ones of us did take on the roles of lesser deities in some ancient religions and cults._

" _What about gods like Zeus and Hera?" Chuck asked._

" _No." Serena shook her head. "At least no one I know of. The details are sketchy—there aren't too many of us left from that long ago—that's one of the reasons why Tabby and I have been digging into the old myths and legends."_

" _You think they might be related to these Elders you were talking about earlier?" Sarah queried. "I know you said the Elders came long before your people did…but maybe they had descendants?"_

" _No…at least I don't think so." Serena replied, "However…there might be one or two older witches and warlocks who had gone into hiding who might know something. Maybe Timur's looking for them? If so…we better find them first. Anyway…" She said, getting back to her memories, "After Tabitha and Adam fell asleep, I left Clara with them and went back downstairs just in time for Darrin's parents' arrival…"_

Hearing the doorbell ring, Larry got up from his seat and announced, "You all stay where you're at. I'll get it." Opening the door, Larry greeted the two elderly individuals at the threshold, inviting them in. "Mr…. Mrs. Stephens…come in, please."

"Mr. Tate?" Frank replied, extending his hand in greeting.

"Larry." The white-haired ad executive answered back, "Please."

"Larry. And it's Frank here." Darrin's father responded as he introduced his wife as Louise joined the conversation, "And this is Darrin's mother, Phyllis."

"Please, Phyllis…" Larry said in a soft voice, "Accept our condolences. Darrin was my best friend. If there's anything I can do…"

"Thank you." Phyllis replied as she daubed the tears from her eyes. "How's Samantha doing?"

"Not well." Louise answered back. "Come with me and I'll take you to her."

"Thank you." Phyllis murmured, "How are the children?"

"They're asleep now." Serena interjected joining the conversation as the two women escorted Darrin's mother to her daughter-in-law. "Aunt Clara's with them."

Looking up and seeing Samantha's face, Phyllis started, "Samantha?"

"No." Serena shook her head, "I'm Sam's cousin, Serena. We met once or twice, I think."

"Serena was with us when it happened." Louise interjected, "She's been a big help."

"Oh." A relieved Phyllis exclaimed, "Thank you." She then asked, "Has anyone else from Samantha's family shown up?"

"Other than me and Aunt Clara?" Serena responded, shaking her head, "No. But that's no surprise. We can sometimes be pretty hard to reach. I'm sure once her mother and father find out, they'll be here."

" _Did Endora ever show up?" Casey asked as his gaze turned to Serena's past self who was at that moment fetching drinks for Darrin's parents._

" _Eventually." Serena responded with a frown. "She showed up after everyone else had left or had gone to sleep. We put Darrin's parents up in the guest room. Clara stayed with Tabitha and Adam and I crashed out downstairs on the couch. I'd just started drifting off to sleep after reading the latest edition of_ Harpies Bizarre _—it's kinda like a cross between_ People _and_ Newsweek _for the Otherworldly set."_

" _That reminds me…" Tabitha interjected, "We need to renew our subscription."_

" _That's right!" Serena responded, "I'll send them the fee tomorrow. Is it still the usual?"_

" _Yeah." Tabitha nodded her head, "Two dodo bird feathers for a year. I think we've got the feathers."_

" _Great." Serena answered back and then returned to the subject, "I found out later that Endora had popped into Sam's bedroom. You see, Sam didn't really do anything to keep anyone from popping in whenever they wanted to." Her lips turned up in a sheepish grin, "Myself included."_

 _Tabitha once again chimed in, "It really annoyed Dad. Later on, it started becoming a real problem for us. That's one of the reasons why the first thing Serena and I do when we move into a new place is set wards blocking uninvited visitors because some of our guests had a tendency to abuse our hospitality." She then gave her uncle an apologetic look, "Sorry you got caught in the crossfire."_

" _It's okay, kiddo." Arthur replied, "We took a lot for granted back then and Sammie generally did keep an open-pop-in policy for us."_

" _I don't remember much from that time…" Tabitha said in a low voice as both Chuck and Casey drew closer to her to give her comfort, "…it's really more feelings than anything else. But I do remember that she liked it when you, Serena, or Aunt Clara came to visit. She also loved it when Maurice called…"_

" _Sammie was always Daddy's Little Girl." Serena fondly reminisced._

" _Yeah." Tabitha nodded her head in agreement. "Kinda like me and Daddy. Don't get me wrong…" She said in an apologetic voice, "I loved Momma, but I remember us butting heads an awful lot…"_

" _You were a very precocious—not to mention stubborn—young witch." Serena remarked with a gentle laugh._

" _You were a hot topic of discussion with a lot of us." Arthur recalled, "You were doing some very advanced stuff for your years."_

" _Ain't that the truth!" Serena chuckled, "You were levitating objects at age six that Sam and I couldn't do until we were eight." The raven-haired witch remembered, "Your mother and I were talking about that once—that it was everything she could do to keep you from using your powers in front of normals like your Grandfather and Grandmother Stephens and the Tates. You just kept pushing at the boundaries. I think that's one of the reasons why I've always gotten along so well with you—you're a rulebreaker just like me."_

" _Me too." Arthur grinned. "That and you laughed at all my jokes."_

" _Anyway…" Serena recalled, getting the discussion back to the topic at hand, "Endora finally made her appearance and Maurice came in shortly after and—for a while—everything was okay. It was only after Sammie disappeared that things started going downhill. But…" She sighed as the memory-vision faded away, "That's a subject for another time. Right now, I think we need to get back to deciding how we're going to deal with your brother, Tabby, when he shows up with whatever it is Maurice has for us."_

 _ **The Otherworldly Realm**_

"I finally managed to get Carlotta settled down! For now, at least!" Endora sighed dramatically as she entered the atrium of the villa her oft-absentee husband was currently living in.

"Well…everyone can master a grief but he that has it!" Maurice proclaimed, quoting the Bard, and then nodded his head in gratitude to his estranged wife, "Thank you, Endora. We can ill afford a confrontation with the mortal world now."

"She does have a point though…" Endora pointed out, "It sets a dangerous precedent for one of our own to be killed with impunity by a mortal. There needs to be some sort of reprisal—or at the very least a very stern rebuke. Nothing that would cause tit-for-tat retaliation, of course…" The red-headed witch matron mused, "A severe storm perhaps…or maybe a landslide that wipes out a few homes. Something that would get the point across to those who are aware of us while at the same time not alarming the general population or forcing a war."

"Even that would be too much, my dear. Might I also point out…" Maurice gently countered, "That Tabitha might not be alive now had that mortal not acted when she did. Though we be estranged and her blood be tainted by that mortal's lineage, she is still our Samantha's daughter—and our granddaughter."

"I know." Endora sighed, "And I know that it was in no small part due to that tramp Serena's influence that our Tabitha turned out as wild and untamed as her. And I am also aware that Timur and his people are trying their best to provoke a war we cannot win. But still…the thought of mortals being able to kill one of us…even someone as horrid as Carlotta's granddaughter…" She shivered, "It worries me. The balance between us and them is changing. And it all began when Samantha married Durwood. I should have done more to have ended that marriage before there were children and I definitely should not have allowed Serena to take custody of my Tabitha."

"What's done is done, my dear. At least we were able to rescue one of Samantha's children from the contamination of the mortal world. Take some solace in that. Our young man has grown up into being a fine figure of a warlock." Maurice consoled and then called out to the maid, "Esmerelda? Tell Adam to come in now. I have an errand for him."

Several minutes later, a young man immaculately clad in a blue blazer, button down shirt with a public school tie marking him as a graduate of the elite Eton Spellwards Public School, and matching dress slacks entered the room.

"Adam, Darling!" Endora called out with a big smile on her face, "Come over here and give your Grandmama a kiss."

"Good morning, Grandmother." Adam answered back as he approached his grandparents, giving Endora a kiss on her cheek and then, turning towards his grandfather, nodded his head in greeting, "Good morning, Sir."

"Good morning, young man! Good morning!" Maurice exclaimed with a chortle, "You're looking especially chipper this morning." The older man then lowered his voice as he spoke conspiratorially to his grandson, giving him a good-natured poke in the ribs, "I take it your evening out with Arabella was a grand one."

"It was." Adam politely replied, "Thank you for introducing us."

"You're welcome, my boy!" Maurice replied, his grin still on his face. "I trust there will be a repeat in the near future?"

"I think it's safe to say that we'll be seeing more of each other." The young warlock responded with a sly grin.

"Good." Maurice nodded his head approvingly, "Very good." Turning to his wife, the senior warlock requested, "Endora, my dear? Could I ask you to check on Carlotta?"

"Of course." The red-headed witch, at once picking up on her husband's hint that he wished to converse alone with their grandson, acknowledged, "I'll see you both later."

Waiting until his wife had left the room, Maurice once again spoke to his grandson, his smile now replaced by a paternal expression, "I'm glad you and Arabella are hitting it off, my boy. You've reached the point where you do need to think about a wife. Regrettably, due to your…unfortunate…parentage—through no fault of your own, of course, young man!" Maurice held his hand up in a benevolent gesture, "An arrangement with one of the top tier families is out of the question. Better to not approach them in the first place rather than to come to them only to receive in return a humiliating rebuff"

"Understood, Sir." Adam replied, "Better to not make the same mistake Macbeth made."

Nodding his head approvingly, Maurice declaimed in a theatrical voice, "I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other! Very good, young man! You learned what Macbeth failed to learn. You understand the wisdom in not overreaching. However, it's not as if this is a step down for you—or our family—not by any means! Arabella's lineage is a good one. This would be a good match for you, my boy—and for her as well."

"Yes, sir." Adam dutifully replied, "I will, of course, take your advice to heart."

"Good man! Good man!" Maurice responded approvingly, patting his grandson on the back of his shoulders. His good nature again replaced by a serious expression, he confided, "This business with Carlotta's granddaughter is an unpleasant one."

"I agree, Sir." Adam nodded his head. "Grandmother wants to retaliate, and, while I understand her reasons, I don't think that's such a good idea right now."

"Why not?" Maurice inquired, curious as to whether his grandson's opinion was formed through his own thought or whether he was merely agreeing with his own in an effort to ingratiate himself to the older man.

"We have to play the long game here, Sir." Adam explained, "Timur is hoping that our retaliation followed by the mortals' inevitable counter will force us into his conflict—putting him in the leadership role. Better for us to avoid open confrontation and play him and the mortal world off against each other. That will leave whoever wins the conflict weaker, giving us the opportunity to extend our influence." Quoting Sun Tzu, the young warlock concluded, "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."

Again, nodding his head approvingly, Maurice declared, "I see you were taught well at Eton Spellwards." Lowering his voice, he spoke in a slightly apologetic tone, "I know the first few years at that school were harsh for you. Your unfortunate lineage made you a target for ridicule and abuse from not just your fellow students, but your teachers as well. A lesser warlock would have broken under the strain. But you didn't, my boy." He proudly declared, "You harnessed your anger and masked your humiliation and disappointment—not allowing your tormentors to see how they hurt you. And…in the end…you triumphed over them. His expression now one of approval, he exclaimed, "You've made me proud of you, Adam."

"Thank you, Sir." Adam replied in a deferential tone and waited silently for his grandfather to continue.

"I need to ask you to do something for me, young man." Maurice instructed, "I need you to deliver a message to your sister and your Aunt Serena." He then handed his grandson an envelope with his seal. "I realize this will be difficult for you due to our family's strained relationship with them both, but it needs to be done and I have faith in your tact and discretion in this matter."

"Yes, Sir." Adam nodded his head, "Do you have anything else you wish for me to tell either of them?"

"Just tell Tabitha that her Grandmama and Grandpapa still love her and she may return anytime she wishes. As for Serena…" Maurice declared grimly, "She remains exiled from this family and will remain so until she meets our terms."

"I will, Grandfather." Adam promised, "I'll leave now. May I have permission to take the family limousine?" He inquired, speaking of the vintage family car.

"Of course, young man." Maurice smiled, "Just tell Yorick you have my consent."

A few moments later, Adam appeared before a silver Duesenberg touring car with an elderly man dressed in a black suit and wearing a chauffeur's cap polishing the hood ornament. "Yorick?"

"Master Adam." The chauffeur bowed respectfully in greeting. "May I be of service?"

"Yes." Adam responded as the chauffeur opened the rear door, allowing the young warlock to enter the car. Settling down in the back seat as the trusted retainer took his place behind the wheel of the car, Adam ordered, "To my sister's residence, Yorick."

"Shall I activate the protection enchantments for domicile entry, Sir?"

"No." Adam responded with a frown, "They've warded their home. We'll have to…" His lips curled in a gesture of distaste, "…park in the mortal manner and I will have to walk to their front door."

"Very good, Sir."


End file.
